Long Lost Love
by ForeverIntwined
Summary: Pepper was heartbroken when Tony started dating Whitney.But that all changes when Brad shows up. Tony's jealous and not liking the closeness despite that Pepper leaves with Brad. Now shes back and very different.It doesnt help the fact that shes got kid!
1. Chapter 1

_**Full Sum: **Tony and Whitney started going out on Pepper's birthday. Pepper was heartbroken till someone unexpected showed up, Her childhood friend,Brad. Brad and Pepper start to get close. And Tony wasn't liking the closeness between the two of them. When Pepper and Brad started to going out Tony didn't like Brad at all!Years go by Pepper and Brad move away together a few days after their graduation. 5 Years past since than and Pepper suddenly shows up but she isn't the old Pepper that she used to be. And along with that some surprises that shock Tony!  
_

**Chapter 1**

I walked around my hometown glad to be back. All those years gone, had really made me homesick. All the memories of my life when i lived here as a teen all rushed back to me.  
Me. Rhodey. Gene. Happy. Tony...  
There was a sudden pain in my chest. That happened whenever I thought of Tony. That pain was from back than...

**Flashback**

I sat in my usual seat, between Tony and Rhodey, in our first hour class. Rhodey and Tony weren't here yet so their seats were empty.  
Class was about start and i couldn't contain my excitement any longer. I kept checking my watch and looking at the door. I was waiting for them both but mainly, the dark haired Tony, who i had the biggest crush on for the longest time.

'Where are they?' i wondered, checking my watch impatient

Finally Rhodey walked though the door, heading towards me

'Rhodey!' i thought, getting excited

He sat down in the seat on my left.

"Hello Pepper" he greeted me

"Hi!"i said a little louder than i intended it to be

Rhodey gave a little chuckle before he started organizing his books on the desk

"So..."i said trying to contain myself

"So?" he asked

"Aren't you going to say something to me or is it a surprise? If its a surprise i don't want to know! I heard that-" i ranted

"Pepper" said Rhodey interrupting me "What are you talking about?"

My excited quickly disappeared and was replaced with angry

"What! What do you mean you have no idea what i am talking! Oh you better not have forgotten! Or I am going-" I yelled at Rhodey but Rhodey interrupting me before i ranted anymore

"I didn't forget" he said as he pulled out a box from his pocket "I would never forget your birthday!" Rhodey smiled and laughed when he saw my face change from angry to excitement and happiness.

"Happy Birthday, Pepper!" he said as i opened the box

Inside the box was a card. I took out the card to get a better look at it. i squealed in excitement.

"Thank you, Rhodey!" i said before giving him a huge hug

"Ha ha I take it you like it?" he asked hugging me back before we broke apart

"Like it? Love it! Even tho getting a tour of S.H.I.E.L.D. would have been better but i still love it!" i said

"Pepper, i can't get the tour. That's like impossible to get but a gift to your favorite restaurant is possible" said Rhodey happy with himself.

"How much is on it?" i asked

"$100" he replied

"$100!" i almost yelled "Rhodey that's a lot! I mean where did you get the money? I mean i hope you didn't steal a bank to get the money. If you did steal a bank for me that is so sweet but its still bad" i ranted again

"Its mine, i didn't steal bank. You know my mom would kill me if I stole from a bank" said Rhodey

"But Rhodey that's still a lot" i protested just as Tony walked into classroom.

I turned my head and looked at Tony as he made his way to our desk.

There was a big smile placed on his face.

'He seems happy' I thought 'He must have remembered my birthday! Maybe he got me a tour of S.H.I.E.L.D!'

Tony sat down in the seat on my right.

"One of my most happiest and special days of my life" said Tony happily

My face grew hot.

"What are you so happy about?" asked Rhodey to his best friend

"Whitney and I are going out as to this day! As i said the most memorable day of my life!" said Tony, he sounded so happy and excited

My face went from hot to cold and from pink to pale.

There was a lump in my throat. A sharp pain in my chest, which made it hard to breath. I felt like crying.

'Tony and...Whitney...going out' i thought

I took slow breaths, trying to act normal.

"That's great" I said putting on a fake smile

Rhodey looked at me strangely. I couldn't keep anything from him. He know that i liked Tony a lot.

"Thank you. Pepper" said Tony smiling happily

He started telling us how it happened

I couldn't take it anymore, i got out of my chair suddenly.i started heading towards the classroom door.

"Where are you going,Pepper?" asked Rhodey

"To the bathroom, i really have to go" i said

"But the bell will ring any minute"

"I know but i have to go and take care of some _business _if you know what i mean"i said smiling my fake smile

I could tell Rhodey saw through my fake smile

I turned and walked out of the classroom, i walked to the bathroom farthest away from the classroom. Once i got to the bathroom, i walked in, closing the door behind me. I slide down the door. The only thought I had was Tony and Whitney together. Slowly the tears came, falling down my face. The pain from earlier was back. I felt like my heart was aching. I was starting to cry harder. The pain in chest, it like my heart was broken...

**End Flashback**

Just thinking about all the memories i had here caused my chest pain.

After i stopped crying in the bathroom,i washed my face and returned to class. I acted like nothing happened. Rhodey told me that he told Tony that it was my Birthday while i was in the bathroom. Tony told me Happy Birthday when i got back, he told me that was sorry that he forgot my birthday and how he was sorry that he didn't get me a birthday present and that he would get me one. He never did...

I started to notice some changes after Tony told me and Rhodey that he and Whitney were going out. When i walked into my first hour class, where i sat between Tony and Rhodey. My seat was now accompanied by Whitney. I would ask her to move since that was my seat. She ignored me and kept talking to Tony or Rhodey. I kept asking her to move till Tony told me that she would move tomorrow. She never did... That happened everyday and Tony would say the same thing, i got to the point where i didn't even ask anymore. I just left it and sat in the only empty seat in the back.

And when Rhodey and I would hung around Tony's locker, Whitney was now there. If Whitney was there and i was trying to talk to Tony he would ignore me because Whitney would start talking to him. If i was there and i was talking to Tony and Whitney shows up. Tony stops talking to me and starts talking to her totally ignoring me.

Even during lunch when we sat on the rooftop eating our lunch. I was replaced by Whitney again.  
The only the place where i wasn't replaced by Whitney was in the lab. But there the only thing Tony ever talked about was how good his relationship with Whitney was going or what they did today.

I soon grew to realize that my birthday to Tony wouldn't be known as MY birthday instead it would be known as the day he and Whitney started going out. It killed me just thinking about it. But my thoughts were correct tho.. My birthday came and went Tony always forgot. One year Rhodey was throwing a birthday party for me everyone was invited and Rhodey was making sure Tony did come. Well the birthday party came and went..Tony never showed up.. Rhodey talked to him about it. It seems that Whitney wanted to do something since it was their anniversary. Even tho Rhodey had talked about this to Tony weeks ago and Tony had promised he would come but even that he didn't keep..

I finally looked around at my surroundings. I hadn't realized where my feet had taken me while i was in my memories. The first thing i noticed was a great big building standing in front of me. Stark International. I was shocked.

'Why had my feet brought me here?' i thought

My mind was telling me to walk away from the tower, forget about Tony and how much he hurt me...but my heart was telling me to go to him, tell him that i love him and tell him what had been happening the 5 years i had been gone.

I slowly made my way towards the building. My mind was shouting at me to leave but my heart was telling me to keep going. I kept walking towards the building. My mind was stilling yelling at me while my heart was telling me to go see Tony. My mind than wondered over to Tony and Whitney.

'What if...Tony and Whitney are still together? i thought stopping my foot from taking another step

'What if they got married? Or have a family together?' A sharp pain erupted in my chest. I suddenly didn't want to see Tony anymore. I turned around getting ready to leave.

"Pepper?"

That voice… That voice was so much deeper than I remembered it to be

I slowly turned around to see Tony standing a few feet behind me surprised.

I was just as surprised as he was. He had changed so much.

I nodded my head letting him know it was me.

He walked up to me faster than I would have expected.

"Oh my god Pepper! Its been so long since we've seen each other!" he said excited, there was smile on his face.

"Yes, yes it has" I said

"How have you been?" he asked me

"Ive been good" I lied "What about yourself?"

"Great! As you can see I've finally got Stark International from Stane"

"I'm happy you did you! I'm glad Stane doesn't control this place anymore" I said looking up at the building

"Me to" said Tony looking up at it also

Tony looked back at me

"Do you want to come to my office so we can talk some more?" he asked

I stood there shocked 'What should I do? I mean I want to talk to some more but what if he finds out?' I thought 'And if Tony and Whitney are still together I don't want it to look like Tony was cheating with me'

I looked up at Tony. He had grown so much since the last I had seen him. He was probably close to 6 foot.

"I love to" I said

"Great!" yelled Tony excited he turned around and was about to walk back towards Stark International but I laid my hand on his shoulder. He looked back at me

"But I cant…" I said, I really wanted to stay and talk to him but I couldn't. I gave him a small smile

He turned around and faced me "Oh"

"I'm sorry Tony. I really want to catch with you and talk about the old times but I cant" I said sadly

Tony was silent for while. "Well how about tomorrow? lunch?" he asked

My mind was telling no, don't give him another chance to break your heart again. But my heart was telling me to go have lunch with him.

"Ummmmm I don't know"

"Come on Pepper. Please?"

'Tony hasn't changed a bit' I thought

"I don't know. Let me think about it"

"Okay but if you change your mind please call me" he said, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a pen he than grabbed my hand and starting writing on it. My body grew warm from his touch. My face was burning.

"There." He said once he was finished "Now you can call me"

I looked at my hand in big black numbers was his phone number. There was butterflies in my stomach, I looked up at him and gave him a smile. "yes I could."

For some reason I felt really happy

"Well Tony I really must be going" I said

"okay it was nice seeing you Pepper. I hope we can see each other again soon"

"Me too" I said "Me to"

**Later that Day**

I had got done all that I needed to do that day. I had got fresh groceries, payed the bills, bought new clothes cleaned the house, did the dishes, ,made dinner. Everything was done. I guess I could of have talked a little bit longer to Tony…

I looked at the clock to my left, it read 6:30. I looked at my hand the number was still there.

What kind of pen did Tony use?

I looked around. He was on the couch watching TV and wasn't paying any attention to me. I made my way casually to our room. I shut the door quietly trying not to make a sound. I walked over to his side of the bed, grabbed the phone and starting dialing the number.

It ringed twice before someone picked up.

"Hello" said the other person on the line.

My breath was cut short. I know that voice. I loved hearing it.

"Hello?" it said again

"Tony" I was able to choke out

"Pepper! I'm so glad you called!" he said excitedly

"Yes so am i." I said

"So you want to go come to lunch with me than?" he asked

I didn't really think about…all I know was that I wanted to hear Tony's voice again.

"Um sure" I said

"Great!" he said "Meet me at the Alain Ducasse at 1"

"But but that's so expensive!" I argued

"Don't worry. Its fine. Just meet me there at 1." He said

"Tony I cant do that to you! That's to expensive!"

"Just meet me there,OK?"

"OK but-"

"Great!" he said cutting me off "Now I have to go. So I'll see you there tomorrow Pepper! Bye."

"Bye" I said than he hung up.

I took a deep breath before putting the phone back where it was. I walked over to the door and quietly opened it and walked back to the kitchen. I looked over in the family room where he was still watching TV.

'He hadn't even realized I was gone' I thought

Good.

**Next Day**

I walked around town looking for the Alain Ducasse. He hadn't realized what I was planning on doing today which was good. He had left for work before I even got up. I felt really happy today. Was because I was going to see Tony again? Or was that he went to work and I was free for the day till he got off work?

I walked around the corner and there it was….the Alain Ducasse

My breath caught in my throat. Tony was standing right in front of the building. I could feel my face getting warm. Tony looked so handsome in the suit he was wearing. His black business pants and jacket looked great on him and fit him perfectly. He didn't button his jacket so I could see his button-down white shirt which were tucked into his pants. He didn't wear a tie. As I got closer I noticed he looked very excited but so was I. I wasn't sure on how I looked, I was wearing best dress I had.

"Tony!" I yelled as I got closer to him

Tony looked up from his watch when he heard his name

When he saw me his face instantly light up. A big smile crossed his face. As I walked up to him I saw him look me up and down. I could feel my cheeks getting hot.

"I'm so glad you could make it" said Tony

"yeah me to" I said

"Shall we?" asked Tony, he laid his hand on my back as we turned around to the restaurant

**In the Restaurant  
**

We were seated in private area thanks to Tony. The restaurant was very nice. Tony lead me to the table where we would be dining. People around us were in suits and dresses just like us so this made me happy that I wasn't the only one dressing up formally. As we sat down I looked around some more amazed by it. I never been in this place before and already it had caught my breath. I looked at Tony again

"Tony" I asked "How were able to get us in this restaurant? I mean you have to like call months before you can get a dinner here! But we were seated right away!" I rambled

"I know the head chef here and I saved him once"

"Does he know your iron man than! I mean Tony what were you thinking!-"

"Pepper, Pepper calm down he doesn't know I'm iron man. He thought I was the one that saved him not iron man and now he said I can eat here when ever I want ill get seated right away but I have to pay like any other customer I just don't have to call in advanced like most people."

"Tony that's really cool" I said

"Yup. I'm happy to see old you again Pepper" said Tony giving me a wink before taking a drink

My face was getting hot. I could feel a blushing coming on. Why am I blushing?

"so what have you been doing all these years gone?" he asked

"Nothing really just moving place to place trying to find the right place to stay" I lied "What about you? What have you been doing?"

"Nothing really you know the usual, saving the world, , upgrading the suit and hanging with Rhodey"

"Rhodey! I totally forgot about him! How is he?"

"He's been good, married."

"What! Man I've been gone to long! Why did I never hear of this!"

"He said he sent you a invitation but I guess it never got to you" said Tony

"It might have been when we were moving" I spoke sadly, took a slip from my drink

"We? As in you and someone else?" asked Tony

"Yes" I said quietly

"Are you and Brad still together?" he asked

My whole body went stiff, I didn't want to talk about him not today not ever!

"Yes" I said quieter

"Oh" he said "I'm guessing you two are married by that ring on your finger" he said pointing to the ring on my left hand

"Yes.." I said barely above a whisper

"Well I'm happy for you both" he said smiling

"Thanks Tony" I said giving him one of my fake smiles

We both were quiet while we let the awkwardness hung in the air. We both looked at our menus trying to distract ourselves

"So hows Whitney?" I asked trying to get ride of the awkwardness

"Huh? Oh shes good"

"Are you two still together?" I asked out of my own curiosity

"Us? Oh no. We broke up a long time ago. Now we're just friends"

I sudden felt so relieved by that

"What happened?" I asked again

"She found someone better and we both realized that we just weren't meant to be so we decided we would just stay friends" said Tony

"I'm happy for you Tony" I said giving him a smile

"Thanks Pepper" said Tony "I'm sorry Pepper but this has been bothering me for a while now but I couldn't help but notice that there was a huge bruise on your leg when we walked in"

My body went stiff again. A cold chill ran down my spine

"Its nothing" I said giving him my best fake smile

"Where did you get it from?" asked Tony

"I tripped and well that's how it happen"

"Pepper no trip I know of give bruises that big and that color"

"Tony you know me and how clumsy I am" I said

Tony looked at me hard. He was about to say something when our food arrived. I was saved!

Tony looked at me and gave me a look that said 'We aren't done talking' before we started eating

**Outside the Restaurant**

The meal was delicious! My cooking was no match for this food! But than again I'm not a very good cook anyway.

I looked at my watch, it was a quarter till 3.

"Thank you Tony for inviting me" I said "The meal was delicious and I had a real great time!" I said smiling one of my real smiles

"Your welcome Pepper anytime and I had a great time to" said Tony smiling back

"Now about that bruise Pepper"

"Oh look at the time its getting late" I said making up a excuse to leave

"Pepper"

"It was really get to see you again Tony but I really must be going" I said backing up

"Pepper"

"Bye Tony" I said, turned around and started walking fast but something grabbed my arm pulling me back

I winced in pain. Tony instantly let go of my arm when saw that it hurt.

"Pepper whats wrong with arm!"

"Nothing" I said backing up

"Pepper whats going on?" he asked worried

"Nothing" I said

"Pepper please tell me"

I looked around the sidewalk noticing the people walking by looking at me and Tony. Tony followed my glaze and realized I didn't want to make a scene. He reached out and grabbed my hand and gently guided me to his car

Once we were in his car and pulling onto the street did I ask where we were going

"To my place"

"No!" yelled

Tony was shocked by my yell. Tony looked at me worried

I couldn't bring Tony into this mess! I couldn't! This was my problem. I calmed myself down and looked at Tony

"I'm sorry for yelling but taking me there would not be a wise choice please Tony just take me home please" I begged him

"No not until you tell me whats up with your arm and leg" said Tony stopping the car at a stop light

"Tony please they are just bruises they are nothing"

"Pepper bruises don't get that big! I'm not taking you home till you tell me whats going on"

I calmed myself down again

"Tony I will tell you soon but now I just need to get home" I pleaded with Tony "Please Tony'"

Tony looked at me and saw the plead in my eyes "Fine but I'm going to hold you to your word Pepper you better tell me soon" said Tony serious

"I will" I said I didn't want to leave Tony but I knew I had to

I told Tony where I lived. I live in this quiet neighborhood where all the houses kinda look the same but different colors

"Its that house, that gray one" I said

Tony pulled in the driveway

"Thanks for lunch Tony it was really good. I hope we can do it real soon" I said smiling

"I did to. How about this coming Thursday?"

"I don't know but ill call to tell you if I can" I said I opened my door and was about to get out when Tony grabbed my hand. I looked back at him. My cheeks were getting warm. I was getting butterflies in my stomach.

"You better tell me soon" he said serious

"I will" I said I looked at him expecting him to let go. He looked at me in eyes. My cheeks were getting warmer

"Please be more careful" he said in a low voice

"I will" I said again. Looking into his eyes I felt like so nice and warm

He looked at me a bit longer before giving my hand a squeeze than letting go.I got out of the car and walked towards my door. I looked back at Tony as he backed out of my drive way and into the street driving away. I watched his car till I couldn't see it anymore before going into my house.

As I walked in it hit me hard. The deep smell of alcohol was smug in the air

"Where have you been?" called a voice from the living room

When I heard that voice my body went stiff with fear..

'What was he doing home? He wasn't supposed to be home for another hour?' I thought

"O-Out" I stuttered

"Where?"

"To e-e-eat" I said

"With who?

"A friend-d-d"

He turned around in his seat to look at me. I walked to the kitchen avoiding this stare

"You look nice but that doesn't seem like something you would wear to see a friend"

"W-W went to a nice r-restaurant" I replied my back was toward him so i started going through the mail

"It seems like more of a date to me"

A cold chill ran down my spine. I could feel Brads piercing gray eyes on me.

"So how is Mr. Stark?"

And that was all it took…

**With Tony**

"Rhodes you don't know how much she changed!" I said into the phone. After my lunch with Pepper i went back to work but I couldn't concentrate the only on my mind was her, the bruise on her leg and how much pain her face looked when I grabbed her arm. That wasn't normal

"Tony what do you expect man. Its been 5 years since shes been gone of course shes going to change 5 years is a long time" spoke Rhodey

"But Rhodey this isn't normal! She not like her hyper active always talking self!She barely talks now!"

"Tony she could of changed did you ever think of that?"

"Yes I did you've been saying that for the past hour"

'But what about the bruise on her leg and her arm!"

"Tony I haven't seen her since shes been back. We didn't even know she was coming back till you saw her yesterday. For all we know Tony she could have been here for a while now and now shes going to be moving soon."

I was silent thinking about it. Rhodey was right we had no idea that Pepper was even back in town if she hadn't been in front of Stark I wouldn't have seen her and we would have never known.

'Why didn't she call to tell us she was back in town?' I thought'

"Tony?"

"huh? Yeah?"

"I got to go. Its dinner ill call you after, okay?"

"okay see ya Rhodey tell Vanessa I said hi"

"Will do see ya Tony"

The line went dead. I flipped my phone shut. I looked up at the ceiling of my living room. So many things were going to through my head and all of them wanted answers

**So what do you think of my first story? I hope you like! Please review! If you like please tell me so I know to keep writing for this story!**

**Forever Intwined**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

The only sound that could be heard through out my house was the sound my phone ringing.

I was half awake and half asleep. I lifted my head and looked at the time which read 3:20

Ring.

'Who the hell calls at 3 in the freaking morning?' I thought

Ring.

I heaved a heavy sign

Ring.

I grabbed my pillow and wrapped it around my head to cover my ears.

Ring.

"When will it stop!" I said

My phone stopped ringing

"Finally!" I said taking my pillow off my head

But instead my voice mail went on.

"Ugh! Who the hell leaves a-"I started to say

"Hey Tony it's me Pepper"

My breath caught in my throat when I heard that voice

"I know its late I bet your probably sleeping"

I was instantly wide awake.

"But I just wanted to call you to tell you that won't be able to see you on Thursday. I'm sorry Tony I really am…but something came up I'm sorry"

The line went dead.

**With Pepper**

I woke up the next morning, pain shooting through out my whole body. I looked to my left, Brad was still sleeping. I grabbed one the blankets off the bed and wrapped it around myself. When I stood up pain shot through my body. Ignored the pain I wasn't going to let this pain ruin my day!

I walked to kitchen and started making breakfast. It was 7 but I knew Brad would wake up soon for work and want breakfast. I was making his favorite scrambled eggs and pancakes. All of a sudden the phone started ringing.

'Who would be calling this earlier in the morning?' I thought

I looked at the number. My body went stiff. I was shocked. It was Tony's number.

'Why is he calling me?' I thought I was terrified 'Is he calling because I canceled on Thursday?'

The phone continued to ring.

'It might wake up Brad!' Fear filled me

I answered the phone quickly before it could ring again

"Hello" I spoke into it

"Pepper?" asked Tony, it was soo good to hear his voice again

"Y-Yes" I said my voice trembling

"What's going on? Why did you cancel for Thursday? Was because of Brad? Did he say something to you? Did he do something to you?" Tony demanded

"Nothings going on" I said quietly not wanting to wake Brad up.

"Than why did you cancel?"

"Because I had something going on that day that I forgot I'm sorry Tony"

"Pepper what's going on? Did Brad have anything to do with it?" he spoke softly

"Yes-"I spoke but stopped myself as Brad walked into the kitchen "I'm sorry Tony but I hate you and I never want to see you again! Your just some snot nose rich brat that thinks he can have anything he wants with money look here Stark you cant so don't ever talk me again" said seriously before hanging up

I felt like someone had just punched me really hard in the gut. I was arching inside.

I looked over at Brad. He was smiling. He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Nice job babe" he said smirking

A single tear rolled down my cheek

"But brat? Come on babe you can do so much better" he kissed my head and sat at the table expecting his food.

I Finished making his breakfast and give it to him before I started getting myself ready for the day feeling so empty inside…once again…

**With Tony**

I looked at my phone confused. 'Did she just say she hated me? Did she really just say that? And that she didn't want to talk to me ever again? Or see me again?'

Those words kept repeating in my head, over and over and over again.

'Yes she really did say that…but it didn't sound like her though'

I put my phone back in my pocket and headed to my kitchen where I got myself a cup of coffee and thought some more.

'When I asked if Brad had anything to do with her canceling she said yes than stopped and said she hated me didn't want to talk to me or see me ever again'

Hmmm. I took a slip of coffee

'Brad must have walked into the room or something'

I got my phone out and started dialing

**With Pepper**

Once I was out of the shower I knew what I had to. I was going to talk to Tony and explain to him what was going on. I wrapped a towel around myself. I walked past the mirror; I stopped dead in my tracks at what saw. My arms were covered in bruises, there was a huge one on neck it was really dark. I gently placed my fingers on it and even that gentle touch made it hurt. I looked in the mirror more afraid of what the rest of my body looked like. I knew make up wasn't going to cover this bruise. I got dressed, before I left my room I looked in the mirror again. I pulled the collar of my turtle neck shirt down so I could see the bruise again.

"Mommy did daddy do that?" said a voice to my left I looked and there was my 4 year old son, Charlie I smiled at my son. He had dark brown hair and bluish/ grayish eyes.

"Did he mommy?" I kneeled down to my son and kissed his forehead

"Sweetheart don't worry about me" I smiled at my little protector "The bus will be here soon and I still need to make lunches"

I stood up heading to the kitchen my son following me

**With Tony**

"Rhodey she actually told me she hated me" I said into my phone

"Uh huh shouldn't you be at work?" asked Rhodey looking at the clock beside him "I mean its past 7:30"

"I am, I'm walking into my office right now actually" Said Tony walking into his office "But Rhodey she actually said she didn't want to talk to me or see me"

"no offensive Tony ever since you saw Pepper again its been all about Pepper but back in high school it was all about Whitney you didn't give a rats ass about Pepper" spoke Rhodey

"That's not true" said Tony defensively

"Tell me the last time you spent time with Pepper on her birthday than or the last time you got Pepper a Birthday gift"

My mind went blank. I couldn't even remember Pepper's Birthday.

'Did she even tell anyone her Birthday? If she would have told me I would have remembered'

Everything was silent

Rhodey sighed heavy "You don't remember do you?"

"Did she even tell anyone?" I asked not willing to admit defeat "If she did tell people, I would have marked it down"

"I knew, Happy knew even Gene knew almost everyone in the school knew it was her birthday! Tony this is Pepper we are talking about! You know the one that always talks and never shuts up so of course she told people her birthday! "

"Okay so a lot of people knew about her birthday so why wasn't I informed of her birthday then?

"Tony I told you and told you each year of her birthday but you kept forgetting"

"What does Pepper's Birthday have to do with this anyway" I finally asked

"Everything!" yelled Rhodey

"Rhodey I'm not seeing what her birthday has to do with her not wanting to talk to me" I said running a hand through my hair, I turned around and looked out the window at the city

Rhodey sighed deeply again "Remember in junior year when I told you I was going to throw Pepper a Birthday party?"

"Yes but you like told me 3 months in advance"

"I did that so you wouldn't blow Pepper off again."

I started remembering. 'Oh yeah, me and Whitney's anniversary was on Pepper's Birthday'

"I told Pepper, I promised her that you would come I promised her Tony and you promised to and yet you still blow her off when Whitney had changed her mind about not wanting to do anything that night for your anniversary at the last minute"

"Rhodey, Whitney was my girlfriend what was I supposed to say? No?"

"Yes! Pepper's your friend! She was your friend longer than Whitney was your girlfriend! This was your chance to show Pepper you cared but you blew it!"

I let Rhodey yell and lecture me some more, I knew I deserved it

"Thankfully Brad was there to comfort her"

"I always hated him. He didn't seem right to me" I said

"That's because you were jealous"

"No I wasn't" I said defensively again

"Face it Tony once Brad and Pepper started going out you realized just how much you actually like Pepper"

I sighed in defeat, he was right. I did…

**Flashback**

"You're still coming to Pepper's party tonight right?" asked Rhodey looking at his best friend

"Yeah" answered Tony while typing away at his computer

"You better Tony" said Rhodey serious "You promised Pepper you would come this year"

"I know I did Rhodes and I will"

"Okay well I'm heading to the party soon" said Rhodey

"I'm almost done with this software than ill go" spoke Tony

"Okay well I'm going ahead so ill meet you there" said Rhodey leaving the armory

"See ya there" yelled Tony after him

Tony stayed at lab a few minutes longer finishing the new software he just created

"Well that's done so I guess I head over to Pepper's party now" said Tony heading out of the lab

Buzz

Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out this phone

'A txt from Whitney'

Tony opened the txt and began reading

'I've changed my mind I want to hang out today for our anniversary, meet me in 5 at the park'

Tony felt happy that Whitney wanted to spend their anniversary together. He was so happy…that things started slipping, everything that was on his mind vanished, totally forgetting where he was supposed to be. He got in his car in a hurry and starting driving towards the park, thinking about Whitney the whole the time. But he couldn't get this feeling out of his mind like he was forgetting something, something important.

**At the Party**

"Rhodey you sure he's coming" yelled Pepper over the loud music

"He said he would" yelled back Rhodey

"Okay" yelled Pepper

Pepper's house was filled of teens dancing to the loud music or just hanging out on the couch. Pepper was having fun to! Her friends kept her on the dance floor moving to the music. While Pepper was dancing she kept looking for her dark haired friend who she had the biggest crush on.

Rhodey watched Pepper from the side lines of the dance floor making sure she was having fun since after all this was her party! Rhodey maneuvered himself through the crowd looking for the dark haired friend also, who promised he would be there and was not.

Pepper finally got away from her friends and went outside for some fresh air.

'Woo its hot in there' thought Pepper fanning herself

Since she was alone she couldn't stop herself from thinking of Tony

'Why isn't he here? He promised he would be here! He promised! Is he blowing me off again?'

A single tear escaped her eye.

"Pepper?"

Pepper turned around to Rhodey

"He isn't coming is he…?" asked Pepper looking the other houses on her block

"I don't know Pepper I tried calling him and he wouldn't pick up I just got his voicemail" replied Rhodey

Pepper couldn't help but let a few tears fall

"I'm sorry Pepper ill keep trying to call him" said Rhodey he didn't like seeing Pepper cry

"Its okay" said Pepper wiping her tears away "Really it is"

Rhodey reached into his pocket pulling out his phone which was buzzing

"Sorry Pepper I got to take" said Rhodey walking off of the pouch and walking to the sidewalk in front of the house out of hearing range of Pepper

Pepper watched Rhodey walk to the sidewalk

"Why are you out here? When the party in there?" asked a voice behind her

Pepper turned around to find her childhood best friend

"Oh hey Brad" said Pepper

Brad walked over to Pepper and leaned against the railing "So what's wrong kid?"

"Kid! Why do you always call me kid! Just because your one year older than me doesn't make me a kid!" yelled Pepper

Brad chuckled "So than what is wrong, Pepper?" asked Brad saying Pepper's name slowly

Pepper's face grew hot

"If your going to be like that I'm not telling you anything" said Pepper turning around acting mad

"It's the Stark kid, isn't it?" asked Brad serious

"He not a kid!" yelled Pepper defensively "And no it is not"

"Pepper you can't fool me with that act I know you to well"

Pepper turned around and stuck her tongue out at him, this made Brad laugh

"Still as childish as ever"

"Am not" yelled Pepper

**With Rhodey**

When I knew I was out of hearing range of Pepper I answered my phone

"Hello"

"Hey Rhodey you called?" asked a all to familiar voice

"Where the hell are you!" I yelled furious

"Rhodey calm down man" spoke Tony

"No Tony I will not! You are supposed to be here!" I yelled again

"Supposed to be where?" asked Tony

"Pepper's Party!" I yelled

"Pepper's Party? Shit!" cursed Tony "That was today?"

"Yes!"

"I totally forgot!"

"I can see that! Since your not here!"

"I was out with Whitney-"said Tony

"Whitney!" I yelled cutting off Tony "I thought she didn't want to do anything today?"

"She didn't but she text me saying she changed her mind"

"Tony you promised Pepper that you would come! You promised!"

"I know I did"

I looked over at Pepper and Brad

'At least someone is making her happy' I thought when I saw Pepper laugh from something Brad had said

"Is she mad at me?" asked Tony

"What do you think, Einstein" I said

"Rhodey-"

I clipped my phone shut, ending my call with Tony

**Next Day at School**

The way Rhodey had sounded on the phone I knew I was in deep shit. When Rhodey got back home after the party he refused to talk to me. The only thing he told me was that he was glad Pepper had found someone new. I was wasn't sure what I meant but I guess I would soon find out

I knew the first thing I was going to do today was apologize to Pepper. I tried calling her she ignored my calls, I tried texting her she wouldn't text back. I did this all morning trying to get her to talk to me.

When I got to school Pepper wasn't there yet so I waited. Rhodey told them that she wasn't going to talk to me.

When I saw Pepper I walked to straight to her

"Pepper I'm so-" I started but stopped when Pepper raise hand to tell me to stop

"Tony just forget it. I understand I really do your girlfriend comes first than your friends don't worry I get it Tony" said Pepper

She looked behind me "And here she's comes so ill just leave you two alone" said Pepper walking away

I was shocked. I knew I had hurt her bad.

"Hey" said Whitney kissing my check I turned around and watched as Pepper walked away

"What's wrong with groupie?" asked Whitney

"Whitney stop calling Pepper that" I said

Whitney looked at me strangely I never told her once to stop calling Pepper that not once

My classes passed by like a blur. I tried talking to Pepper in each class but she would just ignore me and refused to talk to me. Brad now sat by her in all our classes. I got this weird feeling when I saw them together.

During the free period in which I shared with Pepper I tried talking to her again. She ignored me again.

I sat on the roof top alone thinking

"Stark"

I turned around to see Brad

"What do you want?" said angry swelling inside me for a reason I didn't know

"I'm just telling you, you lost something and now its mine" he said smirking before turning around and leaving

I watched him leave confused.

**End Flashback**

There was a knock at my door taking me from my thoughts.

"Come in" I called

I turned from the window and to my desk where there were files waiting to be looked at. I picked one up and began looking at it as the door began opening

"How can I help you?" I said I looked up from the file

My eyes went wide from shock. I could feel my heart beating faster.

"Tony" said a familiar voice

"Pepper" I said

"Tony I know your probably mad at for saying those things-"

I cut her off "I'm not mad Pepper just confused"

"You aren't?" she asked surprised

"Yes" I said smiling

Her face lite up, a big smile crossed her face "Oh Thank you Tony! Thank you!"

She ran up and hugged me. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her back

Once we broke apart she started "I thought you were mad and wouldn't want to see me. Than who would go to? Rhodey? I couldn't I mean I would but I haven't seen him in a while besides how is he?"

I just looked at her and smiled 'I'm glad the old Pepper is starting to come out again'

"He's good." I said "So what are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize for what I said earlier this morning on the phone and to tell you what's been going on"

That caught my attention

She took a breath "And to ask a favor"

I looked at her "What favor?"

"I want you to take something that's really special to me and keep it safe for me"

I looked at Pepper I nodded my head "I can do that but what's this thing?"

"You'll see. Will you be here at your office around 3?"

"Yes" I answered

"Than ill be here at 3"

"Okay now tell me what's been going on" I demanded

Pepper took a breath "Tony if I had known Brad would be like this I would have never gone out with him or even left with him"

She took another breath, her body was trembling

I grabbed her hand and lead her to the couch that i had in my office. We both sat down I didn't let go of her hand

"After me and Brad left here and moved away Brad started changing and not in a good way. He started to get possessive over me. He had to control everything. He always revered to me as his. I wasn't allowed to go out of the house without his permission. I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody of the opposite sex. And if I did there were consequences." Pepper was looking down at fists

"What type of consequences?" I asked

"Well it depended on what I did really. If I talked to the opposite sex it 20 hits with a leather belt"

My blood went cold

"If I left the house without his permission it depended on what I left to do if I left to go get groceries it was just a slap, if it was go meet a friend which was a femalel I was hit and slapped but if it was to meet a guy I was hit with the belt and punched. But those weren't anything compared to what would happen when he started drinking"

My blood was running cold.

"Pepper your not going back there!" I said suddenly

"What?" said Pepper surprised "Tony you don't understand I have to go back! I have to!"

I stood up and walked to my desk

"Pepper what he is doing is a crime, domestic abuse is felony! He needs to be in jail!"

"Tony, do you not think I have tried? I have tried Tony every time we moved somewhere new I tried" Tears fall from Pepper's eyes

"I've tried some many times but the police never believed what I said they always believed Brad because he was in the military! It made Brad so mad when I did that and than I would have to pay for what I did. Eventually I just stopped I knew that he wouldn't get caught so I just did what he said." Pepper said softly

"It got to a point where he would get so drunk that he would hit me, punch me, kick me or even choke me for the fun of it"

My angry was rising by the second

"Pepper your not going back there. I'm not taking you there and I'm not letting you go back there" I said more calmly than last time

"Tony I have to go back! I have to!"

"No you don't!" I yelled

"Yes I do!" Pepper yelled back at me

"What's so important that you have to go back there!" I yelled

By now my angry was boiling

'Why the hell does she want to go back so bad?' I thought

"My children! Okay that's what's so important to me!" Pepper was crying harder

My body went stiff. I felt like such a jackass.

"They are still in that house!"

'She has kids…?' I thought to myself

Pepper took deep breaths "Look Tony I know you don't understand but I need to go back that house no matter how much I don't like it or you don't like it. I need to be there for them. So please let me go back and we will figure something out please" Pepper begged

I took deep breath "Fine but we are going to figure something out" I said

Pepper ran up hugging me "Thank you Tony! Thank you! You don't know how much this means to me! Thank you!"

I wrapped my arms around her

"Your welcome"

We stayed like for a little while longer

'He is so going to pay!' I thought angry

Pepper looked at the clock

"I got to get going its 2. Ill be back at 3" said Pepper letting me go but I didn't let go of her I only tightened my arms

"Tony I really need to go"

"Promise you'll be here at 3" I said loosing them a bit

"Yes I promise" she giggled

I let go of her. She walked out my door, smiling. The smile I hadn't seen in years.

**At 3**

In the hour I had left before Pepper came back I was planning on doing my work but I could not concentrate. I sat at my desk, looked out the window, looked at my computer screen, I couldn't think to do my work the only thing I could think was Pepper and wait till it was 3

I looked at clock it read 3:05

I hadn't even realized it was 3

I got up from my desk and looked out the window. I was beginning to get uneasy.

"Mr. Stark there is someone here to see you" spoke Trish from the intercom

"Let them in" I said

I turned towards the door

The door opened slowly, Pepper pop her head in when she saw me she walked in followed by a little boy around the age of 4.

I shocked! I wasn't expecting her to bring a child with her!

The little boy saw me instantly got in front of Pepper a little

'Protective instinct' I noticed

"Tony I want you to meet your son, Charlie" said Pepper

I looked at Pepper shocked 'My son…?'

"Wait Pepper did you just say my son?" I asked not sure

"Yes I did. Tony you probably don't believe me but Charlie is our son" she said "Along with David. That's Charlie's twin. Ill explain everything here soon."

Charlie looked at Pepper confused

"Mommy he isn't my daddy"

Pepper kneeled down in front of him.

"Sweetheart you may not believe me but Brad never was your father, Tony is"

Charlie looked at me "Him?"

"Yes Charlie that's him"

I could not believe it…I had a son

**Here you go the 2****nd**** Chapter! I hope you guys like it! I'm not sure if it is as good as the first chapter so i will try to make Chapter 3 Better! Please Review! And I will get started on Chapter 3!**

**Yours Truly**

**Forever Intwined**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

'I have a son...? No wait sons'

I looked at Charlie. Now that i really thought about it Charlie did look a lot like me when i was that age.

I stared at Charlie, he stared back.

'Me and Pepper created this child'

Than it hit me. A deep blush appeared on my face, i realized what had to have happened to create this child.

"Mommy dats not my daddy" said Charlie to Pepper

"Sweetheart i know you probably don't believe me but its true this man is your father"

Charlie looked at me again

"Pepper when did this happen? I-I-I don't remember hav-" i immediately stopped, i looked at Charlie who was staring right back at me with a curious glance, wondering why i had stopped in the mid of my sentence. I couldnt say sex in front of my so called 'son'. Another blush appeared on my face as i thought about it.

"I would image that you wouldn't remember, you were so drunk." Pepper said "It was at the graduation party Whitney had a year after we graduated."

"But you were still Brad" I said

"And you with Whitney"

Charlie was looking at me and Pepper curious to what we were talking about.

I looked down at him and than back at Pepper giving her a signal that i didn't really like talking about this in front of 'my son'.

Pepper seemed to get what i meant, she kneeled down in front of Charlie "Honey, me and Tony- i mean your father" she said correcting herself "Want to talk some more but in private. Why don't you go and explore the building?"

Charlie looked at her and than back at me, with untrusting eyes. He shook his head, no.

"Why not?" she asked one more time.

"How about i ask Trish to take you out for ice cream instead" i offered

I saw a little flicker of interest in his eyes but as quickly as i had seen it, it was gone.

"That would really be nice of you Tony" said Pepper, she had a small smile on her face.

I walked over to my desk and pushed a button on my telephone.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" asked Trish through the intercom

"Can you come in here for a sec please" i asked

"Yes, ill be there in a minute"

"Thank you" i replied back

"Your welcome Mr. Stark"

I looked up at Pepper and Charlie.

"I'm not going" spoke Charlie

"what? why honey?" asked Pepper

"I don't trust dat guy mommy." said Charlie turning to Pepper.

"Sweetheart, he is a good friend to mommy and your father." said Pepper, she had a small smile on her face

Charlie turned his head at me and eyed me suspiciously.

Pepper kneeled in front of Chalrie "Mommy will be fine, Tony is going to help us, okay?" she had her hands on his shoulders

Charlie nodded slowly, understanding his mother.

"Thank you, honey." Pepper smiled sweetly to her little protector, kissed his forehead and hugged him tightly to her.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in."i called

Trish walked into the room "You wanted me, Mr. Stark" she spoke

"Yes, i want you to take a break and take Charlie here for some ice cream"i said smiling. I looked at Charlie and saw that flicker of interest in this eyes once again

"Um okay Mr Stark" Trish said uncertain

"Go have fun, sweetly i will be right here when you get back" Pepper said smiling

"You promise?" asked Charlie

"I promise" replied Pepper, she stuck out her pinky, in which Charlie stuck out his too and wrapped it around hers. "I pinky promise"

Pepper and Charlie hugged one last time before Charlie left with Trish for some ice cream.

Once the door had closed, i turned to Pepper. "How could we have done that! i mean we were both dating other people! " i started pacing "You were with Brad, i was with Whitney. How did this happen?" I asked confused

"Okay let me start from the beginning" Pepper said and took a seat at the couch, i followed her and prepared myself to listen.

**Flashback**

As i was walking into our house, i was looking through the mail. Bills. Bills. Bills. Junk. Junk. I don't care for you. Junk. Junk. Bills.

I sighed to myself, sadly. Nothing from Tony or Rhodey yet. I sent them 2 letters over the mail, telling them where me and Brad had moved to. Brad had wanted to move away right after high school and he meant what he said. Only a few days after we graduated, Brad told me we were moving. i had no say in it, it was where ever he goes i go type thing.

I didnt even have time to tell Rhodey where i was moving to or a goodbye either. Even though i was still mad with Tony for not showing up at my party even when he promised he was going to go. I still wanted him to know that i was moving and goodbye. Its been a year since than.

I had sent the letters 2 weeks ago and nothing ever came back.

'I wonder if their mad at me for not telling them i was moving or saying goodbye..?' i thought

As i continued looking through the mail, one letter in particular caught my eye. It was addressed to me and Brad but it was from Whitney Stane.

'Why did i get a letter from her and not one from Tony or Rhodey..?'

I tore open the letter, and begaing reading.

_Dear Pepper and Brad,_

_Me and Tony have decided to throw graduation party. You and Brad are invited. It will be the next following week on Saturday at 6 till 12 at me and Tonys house. Hope to see ya there!_

_Sincerely_

_Whitney_

i put down the letter, sadness come over me a little. 'Whitney and Tony are still together...'

At the very bottom of the letter was a address.

"I wanna go" i said

"Go where?" spoke a voice behind me

I jumped, startled. I turned around to see Brad looking down at me.

"Whitney sent us a letter asking if we wanted to go to a graduation party her and Tony are throwing" i said

Brad's eyes narraowed. "How did they know where we lived?" he asked more to himself rather than to me.

"I don't know" i said

"So Stark is still with that Whitney chick?" he asked again

"I guess" i said

"Interesting" he said "Pepper, pack your bags we will be leaving this following week to go to this party" he walked away deep in thought

Ever since me and Brad had moved away from all our friends and family, he had changed dramatically. I didn't like this new Brad. He was all mysterious. He had to control everything. I was scared to know what he was planning for this party...

**Day Of the Party**

I was excited and scared at the same time. Excited cause i was going to see all my old friends again and a certain dark haired boy but scared because i had no idea what Brad was planning up his sleeve.

As we pulled up to the house, at 6, i was starting to get a butterfly feeling.

Brad and I walked up to the front door. He rang the doorbell, there was loud music playing inside and it sounded like a lot of people were already here.

We heard the door being opened from the inside, answering the door was the person i wanted to see most.

When he saw me and Brad, he looked shocked. He was mainly staring at me.

"P-Pepper? Is that really you?" Tony asked still shocked

I nodded my head, shyly. I hadn't seen this man in over a year and it seemed he grew even more handsome over the period of time. I still had feelings for him even though i was with Brad. Tony looked to be more muscular than the last time i saw him.

"Pepper, its sooo great to see you!" said Tony happily, he took a step toward me but Brad immediatily saw his action wrapped his arm around me. Brad glared at Tony.

"Stark."

"Brad." Tony said glaring back.

"Tony!" yelled a high-pitch from behind Tony

Whitney than walked through the door and stood beside Tony

"Oh its Pepper and Brad! I wasn't expecting you guys to come" she said smiling, she gave me a quick glance but when she looked at Brad she seemed to let the her glaze stay on him.

"Well why don't you two come on in, the party is in here not out there" she said laughing at her own joke

I smiled a little at her joke.

Brad kept his arm wrapped my waist the whole time.

Tony looked at us, glaring at Brad the whole time while Brad had this smug look on his face, that not even i know why but i knew it had to do something with this plan he was plotting...

**10 pm**

Brad never let me leave his sight not once the whole time we were there. I saw a lot of my friends and Rhodey. I talked to Rhodey and caught up with him. i didnt really get a chance to talk to Tony since i was with Brad and Whitney was hanging all over him.

Me and Brad were sitting on one of the couches in one of the millions of rooms this house had. We watched as people chatted and danced to the music

Brad suddenly got up "I'm going to get another beer"

I nodded my head

"Ill be right back" he said, which really meant don't move from this spot.

I watched him walk away, i sat there and continued to look at the other people having a fun time.

I looked at my watch 20 minutes had gone by i didn't even realize that much time had passed. I continued to sit there watching and waiting.

'How long does it take him to get a beer?' i thought

i waited some more. It seemed like time was going by really fast.

i checked the time again it was almost an hour since he left. I knew i should of stayed where i was and continued to sit on the couch and wait but i was getting tired of waiting.

I got up and started walking from room to room looking for Brad. He wasn't in any of the rooms i checked.

In one of the rooms i found Tony sitting on of the couches alone. I was little hesitant to walk up to him because of Brad but since Brad wasn't around. What he doesn't know wont hurt him. I found my courage and walked up to Tony.

"Hey" i said

Tony looked up from taking a slip of his beer. He looked surprised when he saw it was me. He quickly recovered. "Hey Pepper"

"Have you seen Brad anywhere?" i asked

"Um no not really"

"Oh okay" i replied a little relieved

"So how are you? How you've been?" he asked

I took a seat next to him.

"I-Ive been good" i spoke uncertain of what to say.

'Should i tell him...?' i thought

"That's good" he said he seemed to be deep in thought

"Soo..how are you? How have you been?" i asked trying to keep the conversation going. I felt so happy to be able to talk to him again. It was over a year since i last got to talk to him.

i hadn't been this happy in sooo long. Once me and Brad had moved away, i saw just what kind of person Brad really was...

"Ive been good too" he replied back.

An hour had passed, me and Tony hadn't stopped talking since i first got there. He had a few beers and i could tell he was starting to get drunk. He asked me if i wanted a beer but i told him Brad was drinking and i was going to be the designated driver. He understand and kept drinking. I hadnt seen Brad since i went to look for him, and met up with Tony. Brad had totally left my mind and i didn't mind.

"Hahaha remember that one timeee when you tried to fight Whitney" laughed Tony

"Yes! Now that i think about it, i was so stupid!" i laughed

"I need to take a piss" replied Tony very drunk, he tried to get up but couldn't, he just fell back down on the couch

"Ohhh man i cant even get up!" he laughed

I laughed with him "let me help you" I put his arm around my should and wrapped my arm around his waist.

I helped him to the bathroom, we tripped and wobbled a lot but we both just laughed about it. i waited outside the bathroom. When he came out, he was able to walk but he had to lean against the wall for support.

We didn't really go anywhere, we just stayed in the hallway a few feet away from the bathroom.

"Ohhh damn Pepper i am sooo wasted" Tony said as he slid down to the floor. I laughed at him, he was sooo handsome. His eyes seemed more blue than usual. I loved looking into, Brad's eyes were emotionless they didn't show emotions like Tony's did.

Tony was looking right at me. "God damn Pepper, why did you leave..." he said looking away sadly

"Tony..i didn't want to leave, i really didn't" i said

"Than why?" he asked he looked at me again, there was pain and sadness in his eyes

"Because Brad wanted to move away and besides you had Whitney and i felt so unneeded here. Like i was replaced" i said looking away from him

Tony grabbed my face with his hands making me look at him. I could feel my face getting hot at his touch. I bet if it wasn't so dark in this hallway you could see the red tent across my cheeks.

"Pepper, you could never be replaced."

I looked into Tony's eyes trying to see if what he spoke was the true or if he was lying and just trying to make me feel better. As i looked into his eyes all i saw was seriousness.

Before i knew what was happening, Tony's head was leaning toward my face. I could my face getting more hot. My cheeks were flushed. Tony's face just kept getting closer and closer. I knew what was coming, i slowly closed my eyes as i saw his head start to turn and his lips getting closer to mine. Once i felt his lips over mine, i felt my heart skip a beat.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, when we both pulled away i noticed his cheeks were red. We were both staring at each other.

"Pepper, once you started going out with Brad and when you left i realized just how much you actually mean to me" he said

I wasn't sure if it was the beer talking or if Tony was being serious but what he said had a huge impact on my heart. My heart was beating fast.

Before i could even reply back, Tony had his mouth on mine once again. But this kiss wasn't like the first, it was more passionate. My heart was beating faster, i closed my eyes and got more into the kiss. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and ran my fingers through his hair. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him. Which made me gasp, Tony took that opportunity and slipped his tongue into my mouth. I was shocked by his move but i loved it. Things were getting heated between me and Tony.

**End of Flashback**

Tony looked at me with a blank face.

"And well that's how it happened" I said, i was looking down at my hands that were folded in my lap.

Tony looked like he was in a trance. He was like that for a few more minutes. "What about Brad?" he asked getting out of his trance.

"Well a few days after the party, he found out that we were together that night..." i said sadly

"What happened?"

I got up and walked over to the window. I was recalling the memories as i looked out the window.

"What happened Pepper?" asked Tony as he got up and started making his way toward me.

"What do you think tony!" I quickly turned around, i couldn't stop the tears from falling from my eyes

"Im sorry Pepper" Before i could even let out a sob, Tony had engulfed me in a hug.

I was crying into his chest, just as Charlie and Trish returned. I looked up at them, once Charlie saw the tears in my eyes, he instantly ran to me and Tony. He pushed Tony away from me roughly. "What did you do to mommy! Why she crying!" yelled Charlie

"C-Charlie" i tried to say

"Don't touch mommy!" he yelled

"Charlie" said Tony trying to calm down, Charlie "I wasn't hurting Pepper"

"Why she crying!"

"I was comforting her"

"Confurting her?" asked Charlie confused, all his angry gone

"Yes" spoke Tony gentle

"Whats dat?" asked Charlie still confused, he turned his head a little like a dog would do

"Well its something a person does when someone they care about is crying. It makes all their tears go away"

"Really!" asked Charlie all excited

"Yes" Tony smiled at him

"I wanna do dat! I wanna do dat!" yelled Charlie excited, his eyes were wide with happiness "I wanna make mommy's tears go away!"

I smiled down at my little protector, i picked him into my arms "You always do" i whispered, i held him close to me and hugged him tight.

He wrapped his little arms my neck. "i love you mommy"

"i love you too baby" i said smiling

I looked into my son's eyes, his fathers eyes. I than looked at Tony, he had the same eyes as his son.

"Why mommy crying?"

"Because mommy missed you baby"

"Why mommy miss me? i gone not long" said Charlie smiling

"Because your going to be staying with your real father for a while" i said sadly

His smile instantly disappeared from his face. "W-why?"

Tony must of caught on to what i was saying because his face to went to from looking blank to a look of surprise. "W-What Pepper? what are you saying?"

"Because mommy doesn't want you to get hurt" i kissed Charlie's forehead

Tony's shocked face changed to a one of being serious. "To get hurt?"

I nodded my head.

i setted Charlie down on the floor. I reached in front of Charlie's shirt and pulled it up which revealed a big, ugly, dark bruise against his tan skin.

Tony winced when he saw it.

I turned Charlie around so his back was facing Tony, i pulled up his shirt again. Tony gasped at all the brusies that covered Charlie's back.

"Please don't tell him he did this..."

I looked into Tony's eyes, his eyes seemed to be pleading with me, to say that he didnt do it.

"Whenever Charlie tries to protect me from him, this what happens." My heart was heavy

'Its all because of me that he gets hurt..' i thought, i couldn't bear to look at the bruise anymore and let the shirt fall back onto his back, my heart broke everytime i saw the brusies all over my baby boys body

"I think he's starting to notice that Charlie and David aren't his so he's starting to target David too.." i looked out the window, i couldn't stand to look at Tony.

"David, isnt like Charlie. He cant take the hits like Charlie can. I try to protect him...i really do..." i couldn't help the tears that fell "David is very weak and ill from birth..He is terrified of Brad..he always stood out of Brad's way which made him unnoticeable to Brad, that made me happy that Brad never noticed him because it meant he was never going to get the hits and beats that me and Charlie get...but i try to protect Charlie from the beatings too but you see how well that worked out...im not sure David's body can handle the beatings though.."

"Pepper..."

"Tony, i want you take Charlie" i turned to face Tony, i didn't care if my face looked hideous from me crying "Please Tony, please take care of him"

Tony looked at me and nodded his head "Ill take him."

"Thank you tony! Thank you!" i ran and hugged him tight.

He hugged me back, tightly. "Pepper, the only thing i don't understand, is why are you only wanting me to take Charlie and not both, Charlie and David?"

"Because yesterday before i went to bed, Brad told me to get ride of Charlie.."

"Get ride of?" he asked Shocked

"Yes..and he said if i didn't..he would.."

"Get ride of as in kill or get ride of as in drop him off somewhere and let him finned for himself?"

"If Brad would of have gotten ride of him i honestly don't know what he would...but i knew i couldn't get ride of him..but i knew i couldn't bring him back home and since your his biological father i thought maybe you could take him.."

"Mommy.."

I looked down at Charlie, who looked to be clinging to my leg for dear life.

"im sorry baby" i said sadly, running my fingers through his hair.

"No mommy, no mommy" Charlie said, starting to cry

I picked up my baby boy and held him tight "Shhhh baby shhh you'll see me honey i promise"

Charlie continued to cry.

I felt my heartbreak, i hated hearing my baby cry.

I walked over to the couch in the room and sat on it. I patted Charlies back while whispering promises that i would see him. I looked at Tony, who was still at the window, looking out it. He seemed to be in deep thought.

**Tony**

I looked out the window, deep in thought.

'What kind of person does that..to a child even!' i thought angry

I put my left arm on the window, it was level with my forehead, i continued to look out the window.

'What kind of bastard does that!' i was fuming

I leaned my head on my arm as i continued to look out

When i saw those bruises all over Charlie my heart skipped a beat, i knew by that something had to be done.

"Pepper" i called

"Yes?" she answered

"I cant let you go back there."

"What! Tony we already discussed this!" she yelled

"I know we did." i said in a even voice "But what if you got David and the four of us could live together?

"Tony.." Pepper signed "Its not that simple.."

"How is it not!" i yelled, i whipped my head toward her

"Tony i am legally married to him if you took me and my kids from him they will think you kidnapped us!"

"No! We show them the bruises, scars everything!" i said hitting my hand against the window

"Tony he works in the Military which is linked to the police, he is great friends with the police officers who do you think they will believe!"

"So im iron man!"

"The police don't know that!"

"I'm also Tony Stark!"

"Yeah Tony Stark, intelligent inventor playboy!" i yelled angrily

We were both in silence

"Tony..its not Just David that i have go back to the house for" i spoke softly

"Than what else could there be!"

"Micheal, okay!'

"Micheal?" i asked confused

"That's why i cant leave that house! Micheal is my other son, Charlie and David arent just my only kids Micheal is in there too. And he is Brad biological son but he is just baby, only a few months old.."

I was silent. I had no idea that she had more kids..I felt like such a jerk. We were both silent for several minutes.

"Tony.."

I quickly turned around, Pepper was standing a few feet behind me holding a sleeping Charlie.

"i should get going before he wakes up, once he does he'll never want me out of his sight.."

I looked at her in the face, i could see the sadness and pain this was causing her.

"Yeah"

She pulled the small child slowly away from her body, he stirred a little from the lack of warmth but as quickly as he started it stopped. She held him out to me for me to take. I awkwardly took the small child from his mother

"Put his head on your shoulder, and put your arm under his butt to support him and your arm right here on his back so he wont fall" Pepper said as she directed me what to do

Pepper took a few steps back and looked at the scene before her.

The biological father of her son, holding his son for very first. I was looking down at the peaceful face of Charlie.

"I should go" Pepper said again

She walked over to me and kissed Charlie's forehead before backing away and walked out the door. I watched her go, feeling so helpless..

**Finally! chapter 3 done! i hope you guys liked it! Please Review!**

**Katie-Color**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The ride to my place was an awkward one especially since I had no idea of how to take care of a child. When I got to my car, a problem had occurred. 'Don't kids his age need a car seat?' I thought. I looked at the bare seats of my car.

'But I don't have a car seat...'

I sighed heavily 'Thanks Pepper'

I did the only thing I could think of at that moment, I laid him down in my backseat which was tricky. When I first tried to lay him down, he started falling back out of my arms. I quickly caught him and brought him back up than I remembered what Pepper had said 'Your hand on his back for support so he won't fall back'

'Great...how do I do this than? I mean I'm a genius for Pete sake I should be able to do this!' I thought angry

I moved my hand to the base of his neck and back, so when I went to lay him down his head wouldn't be flapping everywhere. I hunched my back and starting leaning into the car. I slowly started to remove the small body away from my own; I gently set him down on the seat. It worked!

I was so proud of myself!

I quietly closed the door than opened the driver's door and got in. I started the car, pulling out of the parking lot, heading for town.

**In Town**

I drove up into the only parking space available. I hadn't realized that the store would be this busy at this hour. I looked at the clock it read 4:30. 'Really? Its only 4?' I thought, I had thought it was later than that. I turned off my car; I turned around in my seat and looked at Charlie, who was sleeping soundly in the backseat.

'Should I wake him?' I pondered the thought some more 'Nah this will only take a sec, it won't be long' I thought

I opened the car door, but another thought struck me 'What if something happens? Nah what could happen' I quickly discarded the thought

I fully stepped out of the car, into the late June air. I closed the door, locking them as I walked to the front of the store. As I walked in, the greeter greeted me "Welcome!"

I continued walking; I walked around isle after isle looking for car seats. Finally I found them, there was a wide range of car seats, prices varying small and large. I immediately went to the expensive side. The most expensive car seat they had was priced at 400 dollars; i looked at the box examining it.

'What do people look for in car seats..?' I thought 'Maybe comfort, umm safety umm'

"Can I help you with anything, sir?" asked a voice, knocking me from my thoughts

I turned away from the car seats to the sales clerk who spoke.

She had bright blue eyes that stared at me intently. A huge smile was plastered on her smile, which looked overfriendly.

I smiled back "No I'm good but thank you"

I was starting to turn back to the car seats when she spoke again "You sure?"

"Positive" I said

There was a glint in her eye, the way she was smiling almost looked like she was trying to seduce me.

"If you need help, I'm always here just ask"

"Okay" I said

"By the way, the names Judy" She held out her hand to me

I took it "Tony." I said simply

"Like as in Tony Stark?" She asked leaning against the racks, trying to act cool. But than again what was cool about working at Babies R Us.

"Yeah"

She immediately started squealing and screaming like a little girl "Omg! Omg! Omg! The one and only Tony Stark is standing right next me! Oh my gosh!"

She stopped squealing and making a ruckus and stepped closer to me. Her blue eyes staring at me from head to toe, I instantly took a step back.

"You're so much sexier in person!" she said trying to sound seducing

Freaked out, I quickly grabbed the 400 dollar car seat and made my way towards the cash registers. Sadly, she followed.

"OMG! Tony can I have your number! Or how about we take a picture together! I have my phone it takes pictures! Or How about we go out together sometime?"

I walked faster and yet she just speeded up too. I got to the cashier and set the car seat on the cash register, the cashier quickly scanned it. "Will that be all for you, sir?"

"Yes" I answered

"It'll be 501.03"

"Heather do you know who this is!" yelled Judy, who was the sales clerk from before

"Umm no" answered the cashier

I quickly pulled out my credit card and swiped it.

"Am I supposed to know who this is?" asked Heather confused

"Yes!" Judy yelled

I quickly signed my name on the pad; I put my card back in its place while I waited for my receipt

Heather, the cashier, finally handed me the receipt. I grabbed the car seat and quickly headed towards the doors that would lead me to my freedom.

"Well who was he?" asked Heather

"Tony Stark!" yelled Judy

Just as I was leaving, I heard 2 high-pitched screams.

**At the Car**

When I had reached my car, I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding in.

'Woah that was a close one' I thought

I looked through the window, into the backseat where Charlie was still sleeping soundly. I unlocked the doors and headed to the other side of the car. I opened the back seat door; I looked at the box of the car seat. I bent down, examining it, 'Easiest, Fastest Car Seat Installation' it read.

'Hmm it says easy so it must be easy' I thought to myself

I opened the box, looking at the car seat. I pulled it out of the box and placed it on the seat.

'Wow that was easy!' I thought happily 'But doesn't it have to be connected to the seat somehow?' my happiness faded just as fast as it had come

I grabbed the manual out of the box and began reading. 'What? This is so confusing, it makes no sense'

I looked at the car seat, and tried to do what the instructions told me, it was a failed attempt. I tried again and again; every time I tried I failed.

I was getting aggravated now; I was running my hand through my hair frustrated. I had been trying for the last 20 minutes to put a car seat in my car that said 'Easiest, Fastest Car Seat Installation' Bull Shit!

"Excuse me"

I turned around to see a woman, standing a few feet away from me, looking at me.

"I'm sorry for bothering you but I can't help but notice that you seem to be having trouble installing that car seat" she said politely "Do you mind if I help you?"

"No, no of course not" I said, stepping away from my car. She walked over to where I was standing before. She took the car seat and started doing all these things, it amazed me. By the time she got done, a minute hadn't even passed.

"Wow that's the easiest car seat I ever installed and it's really fast to install too!" she said smiling

I looked dumbfounded

"New dad?" she asked

"Yeah, kind of" I said

"For most new dads it's hard trying to do these things, so don't feel bad" she said smiling, she looked back at my car, at Charlie who was sleeping "Is that your son?"

"Yeah" I said, I wasn't positive if Charlie was my son or not but Pepper had said he was

"Awww he's adorable!"

"Thanks"

"Well I probably should get going, I got my own back at my house with a babysitter, their probably driving the sitter off the walls by now" she said smiling. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

Now I was faced with a new problem, how do I get Charlie in it? I looked at the small child sleeping next to the seat.

'Maybe if I lift and set him in there?' I thought 'But wouldn't that wake him up?'

I really didn't want to wake the small child, I didn't know how he would react knowing that his mother had left him with a complete stranger.

I could already tell this wasn't going to end well...

I was debating whether or not to wake Charlie up, I decided against it.

'He was fine on the drive here, he will be fine on the way home' I thought.

I opened the trunk and threw the box of the car seat in it, closing it; I got into the driver's seat and headed home.

**At Tony's Mansion**

As I drove into the garage, a lot of thoughts were going through my head.

'What am I going to do? I don't know how to take care of a child! Are there any special foods I have to give him? Do I have burp him after he eats like babies do? What if I turn out to be a horrible dad? What if I do something wrong?'

I turned off the car, as I got out I looked at Charlie who was still sleeping

'Man that kid sure can sleep' I thought

I opened the back seat, I gently picked up Charlie, I did as Pepper had instructed before. I had my arm under his bottom for support, my other hand on his back keeping him in place. His head landed on my shoulder. I carried him inside the house.

"Good evening, Tony" spoke a voice echoing through the house as I walked into the kitchen

"Good evening, Darla" I spoke to my house computers main frame

"Long day at work?"

"I guess you could say that" I said "any messages while I was gone?'

"Yes. One from Patricia Potts."

I stopped immediately; I felt my heart skip a beat when I heard that name.

"Would you like to listen to it?" asked the computer

"Yes, but in a little bit" I answered walking out of the kitchen. I walked through the living room, heading up the stairs. I walked down one of the hallways upstairs towards the master bedroom which was at the very end of the hallway, behind double doors.

I opened one of the doors, there was a king size bed across from where I walked in. Big windows that reached from the ceiling to the floor were on the each side of the bed, behind the small end tables that were also on each side of the bed. On top of the end tables were a lap and an alarm clock. The view outside the windows showed a nice view of the town. The right side of the room held a door which led to the master bathroom and another smaller double door that led to the walk in closet. The left side held another pair of double doors but these were glass but on the other side was a beautiful balcony overlooking the city.

I walked over to the king size bed, gently setting Charlie down on it.

'He can sleep in here for now' I thought

I walked out closing the door as I went. I went back downstairs to the kitchen.

"Darla please play the message from Pepper" I said

"Playing message from Patricia Potts now"

I walked over to the refrigerator, grabbing a glass as I went and got some water.

Than her voice came on, my heart stopped. Her voice always made my heart melt when I heard it.

"Hey Tony it's me Pepper, well I mean of course you know it me I mean you just talked to me not to long ago so of course you know what my voice sounds like" she laughed nervously I smiled knowing that the old Pepper was slowing coming back "But anyway I'm calling to check on Charlie to see how's he doing. I hope he's doing good. I hope he won't be too much trouble for you. I'm so sorry Tony for laying this on you but you were the only person I could turn to for help.." she was quiet for a moment "Brad thinks I got rid of Charlie for good...so please Tony take care of him, protect him please…" Her voice sounded pleading. She took another breath before beginning again "Tony, Charlie has preschool 3 days week, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 till 12. So please make sure you get him there. He needs to be there at least 5 minutes early and you need to be at the school five minutes early to pick him. I will be there too with David so maybe you will be able to meet your other son. I'll call every day to see how Charlie is doing. Please tell him that I love him. Bye."

The line went bed

"End of message from Patricia Potts. Would you like to replay it?" asked Darla

"No. Thank you Darla" I spoke thinking, I took a slip of my water, I haven't even drunk any of it since Pepper's message started. I realized my throat was parched.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Tony?"

"No that will be all Darla"

"Very well"

The house was silent, leaving me in my thoughts.

I was so absorbed in my thoughts I didn't even hear the tiny feet come down the stairs or enter the kitchen

"Exsuse me" called a small voice

I quickly turned my head to the direction the voice had come from.

"Oh hey Charlie. How'd you sleep?" I asked

"Good. Where's my mommy?" asked Charlie "Where I at?"

"You're at my house" I said moving to him

"Where's my mama?" asked Charlie again

"Charlie, did you understand what me and your mom were talking about at my office earlier?" I asked, kneeling in front of the small boy

Charlie shook his head "I want my mommy"

"Your mother thought it might be a good idea for you to stay here so we could bond as father and son" I said lying

"I want my mommy" said Charlie, his quivering; his eyes were starting to get teary

"You will see Pepper tomorrow" I said trying to cheer up the boy

"I want my mommy!" Charlie wrapped the tears away from his eyes with the back of his hand while he cried

"You're going to see Pepper I promise" I tried again, I wasn't sure how to handle this

"I-i-I will?" asked Charlie between his tears

"Yes" I said I ruffled the small child's hair

"W-w-why did m-mommy leave m-me here?" asked Charlie

"Because she thinks we should bond" I lied

He was quiet for a moment not believing my life "Mommy didn't say dat"

He caught my lie, he was pretty smart for his age "You got me" I said holding my hands up in surrendering gesture

"Are you hungry?" I asked wanting to change the subject

The small boy's eyes immediately lite up.

"What do you want to eat?" I asked

"Ummmm macaroni and cheese!" Charlie yelled excited

"Marconi and cheese?"

"Yeah!" There was a wide smile on Charlie's face

**With Pepper**

I got home before Brad did which was good. I wasn't expecting Brad to be home till late tonight since he told me early this morning that he would be out with some friends. But with him you could never know.

As I walked into the house, a mop of dark brown hair ran into me.

"Mommy!" yelled a small voice

"David" I said smiling down at an identical copy of Charlie

"Ah hello Mrs. Russell"

I looked up from my son "Oh hello Tiffany"

Tiffany was a 16-year-old that lived down the street. She babysat for me very often. Brad didn't really like the thought of having babysitters, the meaning of babysitters to him meant me going behind his back and seeing other guys. Which I never did but he got that thought wrapped around his mind, that he would go out drinking, come home drunk and start beating me.

Tiffany walked over to me, holding my youngest on my hip

"How were they?" I asked, I picked up Charlie holding him on my hip

"They were great! Michael was a little fussy!" She ruffled the baby's hair, she was holding

"Oh really? How was David?" I set down David down and took Michael from Tiffany

"He was good too" She smiled at David, who was clinging to my leg

"How was Charlie's doctor appointment?" she asked "Speaking of which, where is Charlie?" she looked around looking for the messy dark brown hair

"It went good and I dropped him off at a friend's house" I said forcing a smile

"Oh well I should get going" She made her way to the door "Bye Michael, bye David bye Mrs. Russell" she said opening the door

"Bye Tiffy!" called David

"Bye Tiffany" I said as she closed the door

"Well I guess it's just us now" I said as I looked at my sons

"Yay!" called David, little Michael clapped his hands, smiling

"Crap" I said "I forgot to pay tiffany. I guess I will just double pay next time she babysits wont I" I said to David, he nodded his head

"Hey! Hey mommy!" yelled David

"Yes honey?" I walked into the kitchen, placing Michael into the high chair

"When will Charlie be back?" asked David excited

A sharp pain went through my heart. I knew Charlie was never coming back but David didn't.. Charlie had always looked out for David; he knew that David was very sickly and weak. So he took his role as older brother to protect David and Michael.

I knelt down in front of him "Honey Charlie won't be home for a while"

David looked at me confused "Why mommy?"

"Because mommy thought it would be best if Charlie spent a little time away from home"

"Why?"

"Because mommy-"Suddenly the front door opened

"Pepper!" My whole body froze. I quickly looked at Michael and David. David quickly ran behind me, clinging to my leg. I could feel his body shaking. I grabbed Michael out of the high chair and quickly grabbed David's hand. I rushed to the children's room.

"Pepper!" that voice yelled again. I quickly, quietly shut the door. I placed Michael in his crib and put David in his bed.

I rubbed his cheek "Now sweetheart stay in this room, don't you ever leave it, you understand?" my voice was shaking

He nodded his head, understanding

I quickly kissed his forehead

"Pepper!"

I rushed out the room.

"Pepper!"

"Yes?" I said, making my way into the kitchen where a very drunk Brad was waiting for me. "Did you need anything?" I asked

There was sharp sting across my face, I fell back and crashed into the chairs. My side was hurting where I landed on the chairs.

"Where the hell were you when I was calling you?" yelled Brad angry

"I-I was putting the k-kids to s-sleep" I said, I held my cheek. I knew if I looked in the mirror there would be a giant red mark.

"What did you do with the brat?" he asked, by brat he was talking about Charlie.

"I-I did what y-you asked m-me to d-do" I said

"You got rid of him?" he asked skeptical

I nodded my head, unable to say it

"Good" he said coldly. He reached down, grabbing my arm roughly. He pulled me up to him forcedly. I knew what was going to happen next; I struggled against him which only caused another slap across the face. He turned us around so my back was against the counter and he was standing in front of me. He crushed his lips on to me. I struggled even more. He pushed his body onto mine; I was trying my hardest to get away from him. He reared his fist back, slamming it into my stomach. The wind was knocked out of me. He the opportunity to kiss me again but also to slide his tongue into my mouth, he grabbed my hands and held them together, While his other hand explored my body. I knew it was hopeless to fight against him; he was so stronger than me. I gave up…I let him do what he wanted to me.

The last thought I remember was thinking Tony's name.

**Okay so that chapter 4! I hope you guys liked it! Honestly I got to say this wasn't my best chapter. Sorry! Please read and reviews**

**See ya next month!**

**Katie -Color**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

I looked at my phone for the directions to Charlie's preschool.

"Searching" A voice from my phone said

I heaved a heavy sigh 'Damnit if I don't hurry Charlie is going to be late and I'm going to have to hear it from Pepper!' I thought angrily

I thought back to this morning and last night and how weird it was for both me and Charlie

I looked in my review mirror at Charlie who was in the backseat, looking out the window. I was driving around aimlessly. Thinking I knew where I was going was correct.

"Directions to Park Pre-School 275 Greenwich St Frnt 8, New York, NY 10007"

"Finally!" I yelled

Then I realized where I was, the pre-school was on the other side of the city. "Shit!" I cursed

Charlie turned his head and looked at me "Dats not nice word!"

"I'm sorry Charlie" I said apologetic "Please excuse my language"

"Daddy says bad words all da time but mommy says we can't repeat them"

"Ohh" I said knowing full well who 'daddy' was

**A Few Minutes Later**

As I pulled into the parking lot, I was relieved to know that I made it just in time. 'I made it' I sighed

The Pre-school was in a giant building. It looked to be 4 or 6 stories tall, made of brick. There were glass doors leading into the building, windows lined the walls of the building. You could see pieces of paper and artwork some of the children made in the windows.

Charlie and I got out of the car. Charlie of course led the way. As we walked into the building, all sorts of children's pictures were hanging on the walls, off the ceilings. There were parents everywhere dropping off their child or children. But Charlie kept walking on; he walked past all the parents down one of the halls that lead to more parents and children. We pushed our way through it till we got room 286. Charlie opened up the door, inside were more children and parents.

'Holy shit! How many kids does this place hold!' I thought

I followed Charlie to the side of the room where tall rectangle cubbies were lined up on the wall. He kept walking, while all the other children were in front of their cubbies getting their coats off and their bags off with the help of their parents.

"Mom!" yelled Charlie

I looked at the direction me and Charlie were traveling and realized that Pepper was only a few feet away. Charlie ran to her, giving her legs a big hug. Pepper lifted him into her arms hugging him tightly.

"I missed you so much baby!" She kissed his cheek and forehead before setting him down next to an identical boy who looked like Charlie

"Tony, thank you so much for taking him in" Pepper said while walking over to me, Charlie was already socialization to the other Charlie. "I don't know how I can ever repay you"

"Well you could finish explaining" I said

Her face turned serious "Tony I told you enough"

"Not really, you stopped before you could finish" I told her

She was silent. Than as if she remembered something, she reached inside her bag that she had around her shoulders and pulled out some clothes.

"Charlie, why don't you go put these clean clothes on, please" she said, handing the clothes to him. He ran off out of sight.

The other little Charlie stood behind Pepper's legs unsure of me.

"David, honey you don't have to be scared." She said trying to reinsure the small child

'Ah so this is David' I thought

"I want you to meet Tony; Charlie is going to be living with Tony for a while."

"Why?" he asked

"Because this is your real father" she explained

He stared at me "No he's not"

She bent down to David "Honey I know you probably don't believe me but Brad was never your father, Tony is"

He continued to stare at me, uncertain.

"Mommy I wanna go home wit you"

I turned around to see Charlie, in new clothes. His eyes were watery.

"Oh Charlie" I looked back at Pepper, there was pain written across her face.

"I-I-I wanna g-go h-h-home"

"Honey" Pepper walked over to Charlie, her arms open to him but Charlie zipped past her and straight to me.

His hands had bunches of my suit pants in them, he was crying into my leg. I didn't really know what to do but then I remembered what Pepper had at done that day at my office. I put my hands under his arm pits lifting him up to me. His arms instantly went around my neck, his head on my shoulder. I had one arm under him and the other on his back. I looked at Pepper; she too looked to be on a verge of tears. David stared at me and Charlie confused.

I tried my best to quiet down Charlie. I told him that we would go to the store later and redo his new room at my house the way he wanted to. That made him somewhat happy but what he really wanted was to be home living with Pepper and his brothers.

A bell sounded around the room and in the halls. Pepper got out of her trance she was in. She bent to David kissed his forehead, told him that she loved him and to have a good day. I took the signal that it was time for the twins' school day to start. I put down Charlie; he was still clinging to my pants. Pepper once again opened her arms, Charlie ran to them. She kissed his forehead, told him she loved him and to have a great day and that I would be there to pick him up.

We left with the other parents, out the door and outside to the parking lot. Pepper was quiet the whole way. Once we got to the parking lot I decided to break the silence first. "Pepper"

Her back was facing me, shaking.

"I feel like such a horrible parent" she sobbed

"Pepper, he is just mad, he will get over it"

She stayed quiet "I have some things I want to give you"

I followed her to her car, she popped open the trunk and handed me big boxes.

"What are these things filled with?" I asked

"Charlie's clothes and most of his things…" she said in a quiet voice

"Oh"

"Since he will be living with you, you should have them"

"Pepper…"

She turned, walked to her car and drove away.

**At the Office**

I couldn't really concrete on my work. I just sat there thinking about Charlie. I mean if what Pepper said was true and Charlie was my son than I might as well get to know him right? But then again I wasn't all that sure Pepper was telling the truth. What proof did she have that the kid was mine? And the story she told me could have all been made up. But I didn't want to doubt her and if she was right and Charlie was mine. How was I going to deal with being a first time dad? I missed 4 years of his life already and his life wasn't going all that great now, no thanks to Brad.

My mind than switched to Pepper and the state she was in at the school. I couldn't imagine what she was going through right now. Fearing what every single day will hold, fearing for her children's lives and never knowing what _he_ will do next.

I turned around in my chair, looking out at my view and thinking.

…

I remember when I relooked at the clock; it was getting close to 12.

'Well I might as well go get Charlie' I thought

I hadn't gotten any work done anyway so there was no use trying to get it done now.

**At the Preschool**

I went down the many hallways that I followed Charlie through earlier, again many parents were there waiting for their children. When I got to Charlie's classroom, Pepper was already waiting there. There was a baby holstered on her hip. As I got closer I noticed that baby had reddish/brownish hair with Pepper's beautiful hazel eyes.

"Hey Pepper" I said walking up to her

"Hey Tony" she smiled

I noticed that the baby looked a little of Pepper but also looked very familiar too, I couldn't really pin point who he really reminded me of.

"I'm sorry for acting the way I did this morning. It was very childish of me I'm sorry, Tony" she apologized

"It fine Pepper this is all new to you" I smiled at her

She smiled back at me, one of those breath taking real smiles that I loved

"So um" I pointed to the baby, who was staring at me curiously

"Oh I forgot, Tony this is my other son Michael"

"Oh" than it hit me, He looked like Brad! I felt so stupid that it took me this long just to figure it out

She looked at the baby, kissing the baby's forehead making a huge smile appear on his face.

"So this one is from Brad?" I asked

She nodded her head. We were both quiet, while everything else around us was noisy.

"When I was a little girl I always pictured myself as an adult working for S.H.I.E.L.D, married to a wonderful man, have a nice family, in a cute little house and lots of dogs. You know?" she turned towards me "But now I just look at my life as an adult and its nothing compared to what I had imagined as a little girl. True I got wonderful children, but the husband…shield never came true. I wonder if I can still get that fairy tale back and make it come true" she looked at me

"Pepper" I looked her in the eyes "I will try everything in my power to protect you and your family"

She searched in my eyes for those lies she thought I was promising. But she wouldn't find anything but truth; I would never lie about protecting her. I realized my true feelings for her when she left, she's back and I'm not going to lose her again.

Suddenly the door to the classrooms opened, children flooded the hallways running to their parents. David and Charlie pushed their way through the other children and parents to Pepper and me. They each latched onto Peppers legs which caused her to stumble a little bit. She looked down at the twins, smiling. With her free hand she ruffled both their hair.

Charlie turned to me "Hi, what are you doing here?"

"Charlie, honey, remember your going home with Tony" spoke Pepper

"I-I thought I-I was g-going h-home wit y-you" Charlie eyes started to water up

That same pained expression from before appeared on Peppers face. "No, no honey, I want you to stay with Tony, so you can get to know your real father"

"But what about David?" he asked

"What about him sweetie?" asked Pepper hoping the child wouldn't ask the question she was thinking of

"Isn't Tony David's daddy too?" he asked

She signed "Yes honey, he is"

"Then why David no go with me?"

"Because sweetie…" Pepper looked like she was in deep thought "Sweetie here is the truth. Tony really is your real daddy but the reason why you can't come home is because Brad doesn't want you home"

Charlie looked at her confused "Charlie" She kneeled down to him, laying a hand on his shoulder "If you ever came home he would hurt you"

Charlie was quiet taking in what his mother just said "But what about you?" he asked curious

"I'll be fine honey" Pepper smiled another one of her fake smiles

We talked a little bit more before going our separate ways. Charlie seemed to be upset from the talk with Pepper. HE was really concerned with Pepper staying at home with Brad. HE was quiet the whole way to my office. For a 4 year old he was pretty mature, already understanding things beyond his years. I remember my father telling me that same thing when i his age.

When we got to my office, I grabbed a few things out of the trunk from the boxes that Pepper gave me. One box held clothes the other toys. I grabbed a few toys than headed up to my office; Charlie was surprised when he saw the toys. When he got to my office he finally spoke.

"So daddy really don't want me" There was sadness laced in this voice.

I didn't know what to do so I just decided to come out with the truth "Charlie just think of it this way he never was your dad to begin with"

"So you're my daddy like mommy says?" he asked

I was stuck. I wasn't sure I was Charlie's dad at all. Wait. I grabbed my car keys, picking up Charlie on the way to the door. He looked at me confused.

"Mr. Stark! Where are you going?" yelled Trish as I strolled towards the front doors

"I'll be back!" I yelled back before I left through the doors.

…

The parking lot was empty, there was only one other car besides my own parked. I carried Charlie into the building.

"Welcome to First Aid. How can I help you?" asked the lady at the front desk. I put Charlie down, walking to the front desk.

"Yes, I would like a paternity test"

"For you and your son?" she asked looking at Charlie, from over the front desk

"Well yeah I guess I'm not sure if he is my son and that's why I want a paternity test"

"Okay" she said brushing it off as if it was nothing "Well all you need to do is fill out these papers"

I filled out my paper easy, Charlie's I tried to the best of my ability. I handed them back to the lady at the front of the desk. She than lead us to one of the rooms in the back.

"Okay all we need is a cheek swab from the both of you" she said, she went turned to the cabinets in the room. She took out 2 long Q-tips. She gave one to me and the other to Charlie

"You want to rotate the Q-tip while going up and down on the inside of your cheek" she explained

Charlie looked at the Q-tip; he had a confused expression on his face. I already had the Q-tip on the inside of my left cheek, rotating it, moving it up and down along my cheek. Charlie looked at me. I than realized what was wrong. I showed him how to do it, with my own. He then tried to attempt it himself; I gave my Q-tip to the lady. Once Charlie was done with his he gave his to her too.

"We will get your test results in a few days. We will call you when we are done" She said smiling at me

"Okay thank you" I smiled back

"You're welcome" She led us to the front where I paid than we headed back to my office.

**A Few Days Later**

Charlie had been staying with me for a couples days now. At first he cried practically every night but then he slowly stopped. I guess he got used to the fact of staying at my house. I never realized how hard it was to watch over a child! Especially when you're trying to be Iron Man at the same time! When I did have Iron Man business to take care of, I had Rhodey or Rhodey's wife Vanessa take care of Charlie till I got back. I never really talked Pepper that much anymore. I only saw her when I dropped Charlie off at school and when I went to pick him up but even than she barely talked to me. We exchanged greetings but that's about it, nothing else. It was like she was trying to avoid me.

We were in the kitchen at the moment, eating dinner and watching the news. We were eating Pizza since it was Saturday and also since Charlie was a very picky child. I'm mean seriously! I never thought a child would be this hard! He would sit there either messing around with it or complaining to me about it till I got him something different! Sometimes I was actually happy when there was a call for Iron Man!

"In Central Park earlier this evening, Iron Man once again saved New York from chaos" spoke a reporter on the TV

"He's so cool" spoke Charlie memorized by the TV screen

"Who?" I asked I was getting myself another piece of cheese pizza since Charlie was too picky about things being on his pizza.

"Iron Man! He so amazing!" he explained

"Really?" I asked again playing dumb

"Yeah! I wish I knew him"

"Why?" I brought the pizza to my mouth

He looked at me in the eyes "Because maybe he protect mommy and send daddy to jail"

I stared back at him. Just than my cell phone started buzzing, I looked at but it wasn't a number I recognized. But I answered it anyway.

"Mr. Stark?" a female spoke

"Yes, that's me" I answered

"Hi, Mr. Stark this Is Debbie from First Aid, your results for the paternity test came in"

My body froze. I was nervous, happy, excited, scared about what the answers could be. I was quiet for some time but I finally found my voice once again "okay let's hear it"

"Mr. Stark, you are the biologic father of Charlie Russell" she spoke

My heart skipped a beat; I looked over at Charlie who was still watching TV. So Charlie really was my son…that meant so was David and that story Pepper told me just wasn't some made up story.

"Okay thank you" I spoke into the receiver and hung up

Charlie looked up from the TV to me "Who was dat?"

"Well the First Aid" I said, his face held a blank stare "You remember that place we went to a few days ago where we put huge Q tips in our mouths"

His face lite up "Well they called to tell me that you and David are my biological sons"

I could see the wheels turning in his head as he took this information in.

"So daddy isn't my daddy, your my daddy?"

"Yes" I said nodding my head

A smile broke across his face but as quickly as it had come it vanished "No, I don't wanna a daddy"

"Huh? What are you talking about Charlie?" I asked confused

"I don't wanna a daddy!" Tears were forming

"Charlie what are you talking about?" I started walking closer to him

Charlie tried to scramble out of the chair but ended up falling on the floor.

"Are you okay?" I walked towards him again; he saw me advancing and ran to the far corner of the kitchen

"Charlie what has gotten into you?" I asked confused

"I don't wanna a daddy!" he cried, there were tears running down his face

"Why don't you want a daddy, Charlie?" I asked taking another step

He tried to squeeze himself more into the corner, his body was shaking, and his hand lay on his right shoulder. "I don't wanna daddy" he cried

He slid down the wall, bringing his knees up to this chest crying into them.

Then it hit me, it wasn't that he didn't want a daddy, he was scared of having one. Because of Brad, Charlie thought that all dads beat their children and their mothers. So since I am technically his father he thought I would start hitting him.

I took another step but that just made Charlie cry and tremble harder. I took the hint and sat down on the floor where I was.

"Charlie"

He didn't look up

"Charlie, please look at me"

He didn't move.

'Okay than' I thought

"Charlie what Brad did as your daddy isn't a good thing but I'm different from him. I would never ever lay my hand on you or Pepper or David or Michael. Brad could be put in jail and he will be I'll make sure of it. He will never hit you or Pepper again. Charlie as your real father I will never hurt you and I'll make sure nothing hurts you either."

Charlie looked up at me from his knees. "You promise?"

"I promise" I smiled at him

…

A few more days had passed and I noticed that Charlie's shoulder and back were bugging him. When I asked him about it he would just tell me that he was fine or okay. But I didn't believe him one bit. He always groaned when he moved his shoulder, he had that pain now for more than a day or two. I knew that it wasn't good.

"Charlie" I called one day

He looked up at me from the TV "Yeah daddy?" He had started calling me daddy a day or two after we found out that he was my son. I was surprised that he did I thought he would need lots of time to adapt but I guess young children adapt to things faster than older ones.

"Come on we're going for a ride"

"Where we going?" he jumped off the couch excited which made him groan in pain from his shoulder "TO the park? The zoo?"

"Um sure but that's after we go somewhere special" I said

He jumped up and down "What special place!"

"You'll see" I said, I herded him to the car and strapped him in car seat. I finally figured out how to do it after a lot of failed attempts.

I got in the car and drove towards town.

**Pepper**

"Pepper" called a voice from the kitchen; I walked out of the boys' room carrying Michael, who had just woken up from his nap

"Yes, dear" i walked into the kitchen to find Brad, sitting at one of the stools in the kitchen, staring at David while he played. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Brad had never paid any attention to David before.

"He isn't mine, is he?" he looked me straight in the eye

It took all I had to resist looking away "Of course he is dear"

He turned back to Michael "He looks nothing like me at all." I turned and put Michael in his high chair.

"Of course he does. He's got your hair and eyes" I fake smiled at him. I got food out of the fridge for Michael. Brad still looked not convinced.

"Your brownish/blackish hair and your bluish/grayish eyes" I said while feeding Michael

"So does Stark"

I stopped dead in my tracks "W-What are you t-talking about h-honey?"

He got up and roughly grabbed me with one arm and started heading towards our bedroom. I quickly put the baby food on the counter so I wouldn't drop it.

"Mommy?" called David; I could tell by way his voice was he was scared

"Don't worry dear me and your father needs to talk" I called back

Brad slammed the door shut once we were inside. He threw me on the bed.

"Tell me Pepper" he ordered

"Tell you what dear?" I asked, my voice trembling

"Don't play innocent" he yelled and slapped me hard across the face

"What are you talking about, honey" I asked corner of my lip was bleeding

He slapped me again "I'm talking about this! That thing in there is not my son!" he yelled

"That thing is not a thing Brad; it's a human being just like you and me. And that human being is your son" I said, I don't know where I got the courage to say that but I did. I got pissed when he called David a thing.

"Oh so now we are acting like a smart ass, are we?" he sneered

His hand struck my face again.

I knew what I had to do in order to let this matter slide no matter how much I didn't want to do it I knew I had to for my son. I got on my knees, grabbed Brad by the collar pulling him down to me and started kissing him. He was surprised but quickly recovered and started kissing me back.

**Tony**

The doctor's office wasn't as crowded as I thought it might have been. We got in and got out pretty quickly. When I first had signed us in, they looked at me like I was crazy. Since everyone knew I was bachelor but then all of a sudden BAM! A child appeared and I had son. From the corner of my eyes, I could see the doctors mumbling to each other, looking or pointing at me or Charlie. Charlie was upset with me for bring him here but he got over it once he saw all the toys. He would keep saying "Daddy! Daddy! Look at this daddy!" Than bring me another toy to look at which just made the doctors mumble even more. We were led to a room when Charlie was called. The nurses did their jobs, took his information. Than we had to wait awhile for the doctor, the doctor was female and as soon as she saw me the flirting came. When the doctor saw Charlie's back, she gave me a suspicious glance. They took me out of the room and started questioning me. They asked questions like "had I ever hit Charlie?" "Did I ever get so mad at him that the thought of beating him came to mind?" all these questions as if I was abusing him! Finally after I denied all their questions they let me back in with him. Charlie was crying, when I walked in. As soon as he saw me, he ran to me yelling daddy. I picked him up in my arms and told him to stop crying. He wrapped his arms around my neck and continued to cry. I wasn't really sure how to do this; it was still awkward for me trying to comfort him. The doctor told me that she examined him while I was gone. She told me what I needed to do to help and what medicine I should get for the pain. Than all that was left was to sign some papers and pay. I carried Charlie to the car; he had fallen asleep from all that crying. His head was slumped on my shoulder while his arms were still around my neck. Once we were on the road I headed home.

**Brad**

Ring. Ring. Ring

"Ugh" I sighed heavily

"Who is it now!" groaned the blonde chick under me

"I don't know babe, ill check" I got up off of her. I headed to the dresser; my phone laid on it ringing crazy. It was my friend, Jack. The blonde chick sat up wrapping the covers around her to cover her up.

'What the hell does he want?' I thought angrily

I answered it. I could feel her gray eyes staring at me.

"Hello"

"Hey man" Jack answered back

"What's up" I asked

"I'm just wondering don't you got 3 little boys?" he asked, the question confused me. Why would he want to know how many boys I had?

"Yeah"

"Twins and a baby, right?"

"Yeah"

I felt a pair of arms wrap around my neck and a pair of lips sucking my neck. I knew it was Whitney. She whispered in my ear "I'm going to take a shower, don't wait up" I watched her sway her bare hips as she walked to the bathroom.

"I'm sorry to say this man but I think your woman is cheating on you" Angry boiled up inside, who the hell could Pepper possibly cheat on me with?

But I didn't want to let my friends know how mad I was instead I wanted act all innocent. I made my voice break and sound like I was going to cry "W-What-t h-how? I m-mean we w-were m-married for s-some many y-ear. H-How c-could s-she have d-done t-his to m-me"

"Aw man I'm sorry but I'm not sure yet but turn on your TV to channel 9"

I turned on the TV.

"In other news" it was a news reporter "Our Mr. Tony Stark was seen leaving a building today carrying a child. Who is this child? Bystanders say they saw him with the same child go into first aid just a few days ago. An insider says that he went in to get paternity a test. So is this mystery child actually his son? And if so than what about the mother? And why haven't-"

I turned off the TV. I was boiling with angry. The only thing on my mind was talking to Pepper.

**Chapter 5 is finally here! But I must say I did horrible on this chapter! Let's just hope I do better on the chapter! Thanks to those who read thank you sooooo much! PLEASE PLEASE review! And I'll see you next moth! Chao!**

**Katie-Color**


	6. Chapter 6

** Chapter 6 **

**Tony**

Movie night was something me and Charlie did every Saturday night. We would make popcorn sit on the couch and watch movies together. This week he picked the Lion King to watch. We were halfway through the movie when there was a knock at the door. I looked at the time, 9:40.

'Who would be over at this hour?' I thought

"Who is it daddy?" asked Charlie

"I don't know" I answered curious. I got up from the couch "I'll be right back buddy" I ruffled Charlie's hair as I walked to the door.

I looked through the peep hole on my door. It was Pepper. She was holding something in her arms. It looked like a body. I quickly opened the door.

"Pepper-"I started to say but I cut myself short. She was crying. The thing she was holding in her arms was David.

"T-T-Tony! P-P-Please help m-me" she cried

I was shocked at the state David was in. There was blood everywhere, all over Pepper and her clothes. One of David's arms was bent at an odd angle. His skin was terribly pale; bruises covered his whole body.

"W-What happened?" I asked, shaken

"I-it was B-Brad" she cried even harder

"What did he do!" I demanded I looked at Pepper again. Angry was boiling my insides.

There was a huge black bruise forming on her right cheek, part of her lip was cut and more bruises were imprinted her face and neck.

"P-please, Tony help D-David" she pledged

I didn't think twice before I called Charlie over.

"Where we goin?" he asked coming over to me

He stopped once he saw Pepper. "Mommy!" he yelled running to her

"Hi Charlie" she said

"Why you crying?" Charlie asked worriedly

"We can talk later Charlie right now we have to get going" I said interrupting them.

I herded both Charlie and Pepper out of the house and to her car, parked outside my house.

"Daddy there's no car seat" said Charlie when he got to the car

"Charlie, just get in the damn car"

We all got in the car, Charlie was up in the front seat with me, and Pepper was in the back with David and Michael who was fast asleep. Charlie kept asking questions about why David was like that. I speeded into town trying to get to the hospital fast enough; I noticed David was getting paler by the minute.

"Tony hurry" cried Pepper

I pulled into the parking lot and parked quickly. I got out of the car rushing to Peppers door. I grabbed David out of her arms and carried him while she got Michael out of the car seat. I was already quickly making my way to the doors. Pepper caught up to me without delay. We rushed into the hospital. The lady at the front desk gasped when she saw us. She rushed over to us asking what happened while also calling more personal to help. Before I knew David was swept out of my arms and carried away with Pepper following but before Michael was put into my arms. One of the personals came over to me and asked me questions. I told them the truth.

The police arrived a short while later, Charlie cling to my leg. I told the cops what Pepper had told me. They said they would get right on it. Charlie looked at me scared, I ruffled his head "Don't worry buddy everything will be okay"

"What's wrong wit David?" asked Charlie

"He's hurt buddy but don't worry he will be fine"

"Mr. Stark, Ms. Pepper is able to see you now" I nodded my head; the nurses lead me to the room where Pepper was held at. When we entered the room, Charlie instantly ran to her which she engulfed him into her arms. I handed her Michael after she was done hugging Charlie.

"How are you?" I asked

"I'm fine, just a few bumps and bruises nothing serious"

We were quiet for a moment.

"Have you heard anything about David?" she asked after she was done being reunited with her sons.

"Yeah he's in surgery right now" I replied

"How's it going?" she asked worried

"I haven't heard anything yet"

She looked down at the bed sheets, miserably. Her face looked like it had aged.

"I could've stopped this…" she whispered "I could have saved of him!"

"Mommy?" Charlie looked up at from his mother's arms, concerned.

Pepper just tightened her hold on Charlie and Michael. "Oh my baby boy!" Tears started pouring down her face. Her sobs went right though my heart. They sounded so heart broken, like all her pain was finally coming out.

"Oh Tony what am I going to do if-f-f if-f-f-oh my gosh!" she said just hugging her boys closer to her "Oh my gosh! No! No!" The tears drenched her face.

I quickly went to her, sitting on the side of the bed. I wrapped my arms around her and the boys, pulling them to my chest. I knew what was going through her head. "Pepper, everything's going to be alright" I said trying to calm her down "If I have to I will get the best surgeon money can offer"

Pepper continued to sob. "But if it makes you feel better I requested the doctor that did my heart implant surgery, to do David's surgery"

Pepper looked up stunned. "H-How? W-When? W-Why?"

"How, I just asked the head nurse that I would like to make a request on what doctor did my son's surgery. When, I asked while waiting for the police to show up. Why, well that's simple because I want David to get better." I smiled down at her

"Oh Tony thank you!" Pepper pushed her head into my chest, crying once again.

"Shh it's okay Pepper. Everything will be okay."

"Mommas going to be awright, wright?" asked Charlie sadly

"Yes she's going to be alright" I said "Come on, let's let Pepper have some time to herself" I looked at Pepper, her face looked so tired.

Charlie was reluctant to leave her side but did what he was told. I took Michael from her arms which I knew he wasn't happy about.

We were walking to the waiting room; I knew Rhodey would have been there by now. I called him while I was waiting for the police to arrive. Michael was asleep on my shoulder, while Charlie walked silently at my side. As we walked in silence, I suddenly felt a small hand grip my own. I looked down, noticing Charlie holding my hand. I wrapped my own around his small one. We continued to walk in silence to the waiting room.

**Waiting Room**

In the waiting room, Rhodey and Vanessa were already there waiting. I instantly walked up to them.

"Uncle Rhodey!" called Charlie running to figure who had his back to us.

When Charlie had first met Rhodey I introduced him as his uncle. Rhodey was practically my brother, not only my best friend.

"Hey there little man" said Rhodey happily, picking Charlie up.

"Hey Rhodey, Vanessa" I greeted

"Hey man, how you holding up?" asked Rhodey, concerned

"We're sorry to hear what happened" spoke Vanessa.

"I'm doing fine and thanks Vanessa"

"Who's the baby?" Rhodey asked curiously to the baby drooling on my shoulder

"Oh this is Michael, Brad's only biological child" I replied

"He does kind of look like Brad but also some of Pepper and yet none of your kids look like Pepper only you" He joked

"What can I say my genes were more dominate" I said shrugging my shoulders, jokily

"May I?" Vanessa had her arms open, asking If she could hold Michael

"Sure" I handed the baby over to her, happy to let my arms rest for a little bit. I sat down in the chair behind me, exhausted. Rhodey had also set down Charlie to go play with Vanessa.

I turned back to Rhodey, who was all serious now. "Did they tell you what was wrong?"

I nodded, knowing what he meant by his question "They doctors said, he broke several ribs, and his left arm was at an odd angle so I know that for a fact was out of its socket. He had multiple cuts and bruises. He broke a leg too and there was a stab wound in his abdomen. That's all I know of for right now, the doctors said they would give me the full report after surgery"

"Damn"

"Yeah, you're telling me" We were both quiet for a while before I broke it "I told the police"

"Huh?" He was confused

"I told the cops about Brad" I clarified

"Good! That bastard needs to be put behind bars"

"I agree but Pepper doesn't, when she finds out she's going furious"

"So? Her so called husband was one to put her in the hospital in the first place and who's to say he hasn't before!"

"Yeah, your right" I said standing up "Well I should get back to her and tell her before the police tell her first"

"Yeah" said Rhodey laying a hand on my shoulder "Don't worry, team iron man will put that son of a bitch behind bars"

I nodded my head." Can you watch over Charlie and Michael for me?"

"Sure thing man"

"Thanks"

**Pepper's Room**

I was standing outside her room, nervous. How will she react when I tell her? Will she be mad? Happy? I kept staring at the door, not making a move to open it. Come on Tony! You beat thousands of criminals! You can do this!

I took a deep breath, opening the door. As I walked in I noticed Pepper was just sitting on her bed, looking out the window.

"Oh hey Tony" she greeted when she noticed I had entered

"Hey Pepp-"

There was a knock at the door, I turned around and answered it. It was the cops.

I let them enter. Well it was too late now for telling her, might as well get this over with.

"So?" I asked, noting Pepper's confusion

"He was gone when our officers arrived at the house; there was no sign of him anywhere. None of the neighbors even saw him leave."

I nodded my head, understanding "Okay but thanks for efforts" I shook the officer's hand.

"We will keep our officers patrolling the area just in case he shows up"

I nodded my head again "Thank you that would be great

I could feel Pepper's stare bearing into my back by now.

"I'll just need to question Mrs. Russell" the officer said, directing his attention to Pepper

"Tony what is this about?" asked Pepper confused

"I reported Brad to the police" I said flatly

What?"

"I turned Brad in" I repeated

"W-What! Why would you do that!" she exploded

"What? What do you mean why!" I asked angrily "You know why I reported him!"

"Tony you just made this whole situation worse!" she yelled "If you just listened to what I sai-"

"Oh yeah! Because not telling the police worked soo well before!" I interpreted

"Yes it did!"

"Well news flash Pepper I have a son who is scared shitless because of Brad and another son that could have been freaking killed by him! Sons that I just found out that I had! 4 years of their lives I missed! 4 years Pepper! Maybe if you would have told me sooner maybe I could have done something and it wouldn't have happened And besides Pepper this would of have happened anyway since Brad was already figuring out that the twins weren't his"

"No it wouldn't have!" yelled Pepper

"Yes it would have Pepper!" I yelled back

"I'll just come back another time" spoke the police officer, awkwardly

As he left a doctor walked in, "I'm sorry for intruding but I have news on David Russell"

Pepper instantly looked away from me to the doctor, hope in her eyes "Yes? And how is he?"

"He's doing just fine, he's still in surgery but the surgery is going perfect" the doctor replied happily

Pepper let out a deep breath "Phewww thank god!" she turned to the doctor, tears in her eyes "Thank you so much"

The doctor nodded his head before leaving. I too was relieved to hear that David was doing fine.

**A Few Hours Later**

We got the news that David had just gotten out of surgery and the surgery went great.Pepper cried tears of joy. She hugged Charlie and Michael tight to her, kissing their foreheads.

"Oh thank god" she cried

It felt like a boulder was lifted off my chest. I let out the breath; I hadn't realized I was holding in.

"And in your charts, its looks like you got even more good news" said the Doctor happily, she flipped between the paper on her clipboard.

We looked at her intently.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Russell your pregnant!" She explained with a happy smile

Pepper's face went pale "P-Pregnant-t?"

I could feel my body go rigid, I had to sit down.

"Yes! And by the looks of it only a few weeks along, congratulations!" she said again before walking out happily

What the hell was wrong with her! Did she not she how me and Pepper were reacting to this! And she thinks it's all happy and joyful!

I had to take deep breaths since I'd forgotten how to breathe. I ran my hand through my hair several times.

Pepper. Pregnant. Pepper. Pregnant. Pepper. Pregnant. Pepper. Pregnant. Pepper! Pregnant!

I looked at Pepper, her face still held shock as did mine. My palms were sweaty so was my forehead. I needed air; I needed to get out of there fast.

I stood and walked to the door no matter how much my knees protested. Once out of the room I just had to keep walking, I walked around the halls aimlessly.

"Tony!"

I looked to my left and saw Rhodey running up to me.

"How you heard anything yet? How's Pepper?" he asked

"S-She's g-good" I answered, shakily

"Wow man what happened to you?"

"Pregnant"

"Pregnant? Who's Pregnant?" Rhodey asked confused

"Pepper!" I yelled

His eyes got huge "No way, please don't tell me it's yours! I mean you already have two and you're not even married yet!"

I glared at him

"I'm just saying" he said defensibly

I leaned against the wall "Rhodey what am I going to do?"

"Well whose it, first of all"

"Brad's" I said angrily

"That would make more since, since they are married"

"But Rhodey he fucking beats her!" I practically yelled

Rhodey was silent "Have the cops said anything about the search of the house?

"Yes but he left by the time they got there"

"Damn that son of a b-"

"I can't believe that guy!" cried a police officer walking into the hall "Brad would never do anything to Pepper or the boys! He loved them to death! That guy is a liar!"

"That guy is Mr. Stark" spoke the other police officer next to him "You know the number one wanted Bachelor in the whole city, loved by all and the richest of us all. He's got connections everywhere and if he heard you say that about him you could kiss your job goodbye"

"But do you believe Brad would hurt Pepper or David like that? I mean every day when he came in to work, he always talked about them! I don't think Brad could ever lay a finger on any one of them! Mr. Stark is a liar! Maybe it was him who did it! And he's trying to portray that Brad did it so Brad will get arrested not him! And, and he's made Pepper and the kids so scared of him that they can't deny him!"

"Are you listening to yourself? You could get in trouble for that kind of talk! Yeah, I too don't believe that Brad would ever do that but whose not say that he did do it but I also don't want to believe that he did do it and just believe that it was Mr. Stark. As police officers we can't just accuse someone we need more evidence before pointing fingers"

I watched them walk out of the hall, never noticing me once.

"Man...I'm sorry" said Rhodey laying his hand on my shoulder

I was a suspect in this case. The police officers thought I did that to Pepper and David! And it looked like none of the police officers would ever believe me if I told them I didn't do it. Brad had them in the palm of his hand. Just what kind if lies was Brad feeding the officers? Could I ever convince the police to believe me?

I turned to Rhodey "It's okay as long as I can get Pepper and the boys away from Brad"

"And how are you going to do that? I can understand Charlie and…" Rhodey trailed off "What's your other kid's name again?"

"David"

"Yeah Charlie and David but Michael is a different story. He actually is Brad's biological kid so Brad will have a right to see him. And now that Pepper is pregnant with his kid he has a right to see that child to. Now to mention Pepper is still his wife, they practically combined by the law. He has rights to her to."

I refused to look at Rhodey, I knew he was right.

I returned to the room an hour later, Pepper seemed to have gotten over her shock. When I walked in I was attacked by Charlie

"Daddy!" He ran to me, hugging my legs

"Hey buddy" I said smiling down at him while ruffling his hair

"Did you hear the news!" he cried excitedly "I'm gonna have a new brother or sister!"

"Yeah" I said. I looked at Pepper who was staring at me, her eyes were unreadable.

I turned back to Charlie "Why are you still up? Shouldn't you be sleeping its 2 in the morning?"

"I took a nap while you were gone" smiled Charlie looking up at me

"Well aunt Vanessa and uncle Rhodey have offered to take you home" I said

Charlie's face fell "I don't wanna leave" He held on to my leg tighter

"Charlie" We both looked up to the voice

"I think it will be great idea if you and Michael get some real rest and not a nap" She looked sternly at Charlie, who had his open ready to protest but quickly closed it.

"Okay" Charlie held his head low

I still wasn't good with this parenting stuff but there were something's that I was already catching on to.

I lifted him up into my arms "Don't worry I'll come visit you and take you to school and once Pepper gets out of the hospital we will stay at my place and you can show her your room"

His face immediately brightened up. "Okay!"

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in" I called

Rhodey and Vanessa entered. "Hey Tony, Pepper we came to pick up the kids" spoke Rhodey

"Hey Rhodey" spoke Pepper, from the bed

I turned to Charlie who was still attached to my leg "You hear that? Uncle Rhodey has come to take you to their house"

"About Michael? Is he going too?" He asked

"Yes Michael is going too" I said

"What about David?"

Everyone was quiet. "Ah buddy, David is going to stay here"

"Why?' he asked

"Because he's hurt" I answered truthfully

"Is he okay?" He asked innocently. Since we been here Charlie hadn't gotten the concept of what was going on. All he knew was that David was hurt as was Pepper.

"Yes buddy" I smiled down at him, ruffling his hair

"How you doing Pepper?" asked Rhodey

"I'm doing fine" smiled Pepper

"Good. We'll be back tomorrow" He turned to Charlie "Ready little man?"

Charlie nodded his head. I knelt down to him, giving him a hug. "See ya tomorrow buddy"

"Bye daddy" He walked over to Pepper, climbing onto the bed giving Pepper a hug. "Bye mommy"

"Bye baby" She kissed his forehead before releasing him. He hopped off the bed heading over to Rhodey.

"Am i?" asked Vanessa to Pepper

"Here" Pepper handed Michael to Vanessa's waiting arms.

"Thank you" spoke Vanessa "And it was really great meeting you"

"You too" Pepper said politely

"Bye Tony, Pepper" Spoke Rhodey heading out the door with Charlie

"Bye mommy bye daddy" called Charlie

"See you guys tomorrow" Vanessa called "Again, it was really great meeting you Pepper"

"It was nice meeting you to Vanessa! Bye Charlie, Bye David" called Pepper back

"Bye Charlie, bye David" I called as they closed the door

Once the door closed, everything was quiet.

**Hey peeps! Sorry it's been a long ass time since I last updated! My laptop got a huge virus on it and it was hard to update since my internet went out. Well this is my September update but I'm going to try to update again soon before October but no promises there. School has been kicking my ass, I'm trying to get all A's and B's and also my boyfriend's birthday is coming up and I'm trying to get ready for that! I hope you guys liked this chapter! Again sorry for the long wait! Thank you so much for reading and review my story and especially for the long wait! I love you all! Please review!**

**Yours truly,**

**Katie-Color 3 **


	7. Chapter 7

Princesa Bonita- _Thank you girly! I do need to update more! I'm hoping to!_

XxThe Penny TreasurexX-_ Thank you so much! For reading my story and thank you so much for loving it! I'm going to try to keep updating!_

Antari-_ Not yet but he will! In this Chapter we will find where he is out! _

good-excuse- _it would be better! But I don't know what I'm going to do!_

Ebbycartoonlover_- Thank you for reading my story! I hope you like this chapter!_

**Chapter 7**

**Tony**

It's been weeks since we arrived at the hospital. Charlie and Michael came to visit every day. I stayed by Pepper's side most of the time but when I wasn't I with the boys. I was taking Charlie to preschool and Michael to daycare. My father duties were at the maximum. I would than pick them up and take them to my place. During the day I was at the hospital with Pepper. While there I would do some of my work but I mostly did it when I got home. Pepper was released from the hospital a week ago but refused to leave until David was released.

"In breaking news, the mysterious family of Tony Stark is still an unknown. He was seen earlier today taking a small child and a baby to Park pre-school."

On the screen it showed a picture of me in hand with Charlie, walking from the car to the building with Michael in my arms.

"We've seen this child with Stark many times before" spoke the news castor

More pictures of me and Charlie appeared on the screen.

"But this baby is new! Does he have any more children that we don't know about? Are these kids actually his?"

Pictures of me holding Michael came on the TV.

"Who is this mystery woman? Or-"

The TV went black.

"I saw Charlie and Michael, mommy!" David yelled, pointing to the TV.

"I can't believe these guys!" yelled Pepper also "Their stalking you like flies on food! You're entertainment for these people! If I was you Tony I would get mad. I mean whose not say they aren't watching you while you sleep" Pepper's eyes got wide "Or when you shower! What if their watching you-us right now!"

I smiled. The old Pepper was slowly coming out.

"Pepper, don't worry. I go through the back entrance of the hospital" I answered

"Oh good" she smiled at me

"Daddy, will I be on TV?" asked David to me. David had started calling me daddy recently since I have been spending a lot of time at the hospital with him and Pepper. We told him what I told Charlie. It took him a while to understand but the more time I spent with him the more he liked me as 'daddy'.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Come in" I called

Dr. Ho Yinsen walked in. "Good afternoon everyone" he greeted

"Good afternoon" I and Pepper greeted

"Hi" called David from the bed.

"How are we feeling today, David?" asked Dr. Ho Yinsen walking to David

"Good!" smiled David

"Good. Now I have the results of the test we took" Dr. Ho Yinsen said, pulling out papers and x-ray scans from the folder he was holding. He walked over to the window taking an x-ray scan, holding it up to the light. "It looks like your ribs are healing great" He grabbed another x-ray holding it up to light. "Your arm is healing also but we're going to have to leave that cast on a little longer" He grabbed another doing the same with the others "Your leg looks fine but again we're going to leave the cast to make sure it gets fully healed"

David looked sad to hear that the casts would be on longer than usual. Dr. Ho Yinsen walked over to David "Now let's see that wound on your stomach, shall we?" He lifted David's shirt, revealing a huge bandage wrapped around his small torso. He lifted the bandage, looking at the puncture wound. "No infection. Good. It looks like it's healing nicely" He turned to me and Pepper after putting bandage and David's shirt back to the way it was. "Well everything looks to be healing fairly nicely. I would say David can leave tomorrow" smiled Dr. Ho Yinsen.

"Really?" cried Pepper, tears already falling from her eyes

"Yes" smiled Dr. Ho Yinsen

"Oh! Thank you! Thank you!" yelled Pepper, hugging him

The doctor hugged her back. "But make sure he doesn't do anything physical. He should be on bed rest for next few weeks. You're going to have to make an appointment for his next checkup"

"Thank you, Doctor Ho Yinsen" I said grateful, shaking his hand

"No problem, Tony." He smiled at me "How's that heart of yours doing anyway?"

"Fine" I answered

"Good" He walked to the door, opening it. Before he left he turned around "I hear your expecting. Congratulations" He smiled before closing the door behind me, leaving us in silence

Pepper's face was pale. We haven't talked about the pregnancy since we were informed. We both didn't know what to think of it.

"Mommy I get to leave tomorrow!" called David

Pepper snapped out of her trace. She walked over to David, sitting on the edge of the bed "Yes baby I'm so excited!" She hugged him

There was another knock at the door. "Come in" I called again

Two police officers entered. "Can I help you?" I asked. What were they doing here? They were just here the other day.

"We came to question Mrs. Russell" one of them answered

"You questioned her yesterday and the day before that" I answered bitterly. The police came almost every day to 'question' Pepper.

"I know Mr. Stark but we have to make sure she isn't keeping anything from us" said the same one

"Don't you think she would have told you by now if she was keeping anything from you? I mean you guys come every single day. So what is this really about?" I asked

"We came to ask Mrs. Russell what her answer is

"About what?" I asked

"If she is to come with us or-"

I was shocked. "What! Why!" I yelled cutting them off

"If what Mrs. Russell says is true that Brad Russell did this, than we are to put them under our protection. We can't allow Mrs. Russell to be alone. When we questioned her the other day we made her decide either come with us or stay with a friend or family."

I calmed down some.

The officers looked at Pepper "Have you decided, ma'am?"

Pepper nodded her head "I want to stay with Tony, I would feel safest with Tony"

I was speechless. I had no idea Pepper really felt this way.

"We'll talk to our chief about this arrangement"

**Few Days Later**

The police gave me permission to house Pepper and her family with me on one condition. The officers could come over frequently to check on things and for there to be a guard stationed outside my house. I didn't really see what a single guard was going to do but hey whatever the police force wanted.

David was released from the hospital a day after the police had showed up. Charlie was excited to have Pepper and his brother back. Pepper was also excited to see her boys again. It was little hectic at the house especially when you're trying to be iron man and be a dad.

Rhodey and Vanessa visited often to help out whenever they could. They would sometimes take Charlie and Michael to preschool and daycare on their way to work. Trish was happy to have me back at work again. Some of our partners were getting fed up that I wasn't attending some of their meetings. My life used to be so calm and quiet but now it's just hectic.

"Daddy! I want these!" called Charlie bringing me another box of ice cream

I heaved a sign "Charlie I told you no ice cream. Now go put that back"

"Okay" said Charlie sadly, he slowly made his way to put the ice cream back. I hated seeing him sad but I had to put my foot down sometime.

I looked down at Michael, sitting in the cart trying to put a toothpick in his mouth "No Michael" I said taking the tooth pick from him which just caused him to burst into tears.

I groaned. I picked him up trying to quiet him down "Shh Michael, please be quiet"

"Daddy! Daddy! What about this!" yelled Charlie, holding a box of pop icicles

I was getting a headache. I had a baby crying in one ear and a kid asking for stuff in the other "Charlie I told you no sweets" I yelled over the crying Michael

"Okay" again he did his moping walk

I rocked Michael. He finally quieted down. Thank you!

Charlie came back with a box of cherry pie "What about this?"

I sighed, giving in "Okay" Charlie's face lite up, I grabbed the box placing it in the cart.

"Tony?"

I turned around.

"Oh my gosh! It really is you!" spoke Whitney before giving me a hug.

"Oh! Hey Whitney! I wasn't expecting you to be here" I said. I mean really Whitney Stane at a market.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here either" she said looking me up down

Charlie grabbed my pant leg, hiding behind me.

"I guess the news is true" she muttered looking at Michael in my arms than to Charlie who was hiding behind me. She immediately looked me in eyes

"Huh?"

"Nothing" she smiled "They look so cute Tony! This little guy looks especially like you!" she pointed to Charlie, who hide himself behind me more.

"But this little guy looks like…"she trailed off, thinking

I quickly changed the topic "So what are you doing here" I asked

"Oh you know shopping" she said casually, she leaned against the shelve behind her. "What about yourself?"

"Shopping also" I said, shifting Michael in my arm. His head was on my shoulder, I wasn't sure if he was asleep.

"It was great seeing you again Tony" Whitney said, putting her hand on my arm, rubbing it

I was confused by her action.

"We should hang out sometime to catch up"

"Um sure" I said

"Okay see you later Tony" she said giving me another hug, but this hug was different from last time. It lasted a little longer than last time and it felt like she was trying to push herself against me. When she finally let go of me she gave my arm another squeeze before walking away. There must have been something wrong with her pants because she was shaking her hips a lot. Probably her underwear was up her ass.

"I don't like her" spoke Charlie for the first time

I looked down at him, confused. He was staring at Whitney walking away.

"Come on buddy" I said, ruffling his hair, leading him into the next isle.

**1 Month later**

**Whitney**

I looked in the mirror. This was it. This was the day I was finally going to go see him! I can't believe how good he looked! I wonder if he is married. He has kids, obviously. But is he with the mother? I hope not! If he is, she soon will be forgotten. I smiled confidently in the mirror.

I added some minor touches to my makeup before standing up. I looked in the mirror at my outfit. Yes. Everything was perfect. Tony Stark would be mine once again. He will fall head over heels in love with me.

I felt a pair of lips nibbling on my neck. "What are you getting all dressed up for babe?"

I looked in the mirror at Brad. "Nothing" I answered curtly, walking out of his grasp

He came over last month to stay. I wasn't sure how long he was staying and last month I didn't care how long he was staying since i was just happy to be getting some in. But now since I've seen Tony I don't want Brad anymore. I want Tony.

I walked to the door, grabbing my purse on the way "I'll be back later" I called walking out the door.

**Tony**

Things were still hectic. David's casts finally came off. He was really excited but he still couldn't do some of the things he used to do. His body is weak so it takes longer to heal than other kids his age. Sometimes when I took the boys to the park, David would get a sad look on his face. He knew his body was weaker than his older brother, Charlie's. He knew he couldn't do all the stuff that Charlie did. Charlie would be running around with the other kids, playing tag while David watched from the swings. David knew that if he were to play tag with the other kids, he would be out of breath in seconds. They would probably make fun of him. I would walk over to the swings and swing with him. I would push him or I would play in the sand box with him. After a while Charlie would come over and play with David. Charlie was a good brother. He knew how weak David's body was, so he would play with the other kids for a while than spend the rest of the time with David, playing with him.

I'm always so proud of Charlie when he played with David.

Pepper's pregnancy was starting to kick in. The morning sickness and mood swings were in full swing. Some days I was happy that I missed the pregnancy of the twins. We still haven't talked about the pregnancy. It was like Pepper didn't want to acknowledge that she was pregnant. She didn't tell me about the mood swings and morning sickness, I looked them up on the internet. I knew sometime soon we would have to talk about it but I didn't know when that time was though.

I stood in my office, looking out of the window at the view. There was so much work I needed to catch up. I ran my hand through my hair, stressed.

"Mr. Stark there is someone here to see you" spoke Trish through the intercom

"Bring them in" I answered back

I sat down in my desk, working on another file.

My office door opened, I didn't bother looking up. There was too much to be done.

"How can I help you?" I asked, still not looking up

The person walked up to my desk. I knew the person was female since the high heels walking on my floor. I thought the person would stop at my desk but instead the person sat on my desk. I was greatly confused. Just as I was about to look up, I felt a hand on my cheek. I stiffened, the slide hand down my cheek to my chin, lifting it up.

"Hello Tony" smiled Whitney

"W-W-Whitney" I cried

"Hey Tony" she said again, she bent down towards my face.

I instantly pushed away from my desk. "W-W-What are you doing here?"

She looked at me, there was this weird glint in her eyes "Oh nothing. I was bored and I thought this would be a good day we could catch up" She scooted herself more to me.

I got out of my chair, backing away from the desk.

She got off my desk, walking towards me. That's when I realized what she was wearing: A very short tight fitting skirt with stiletto heels and a very low cut tight fitting shirt. I gulped.

She continued making her way to me, swaying her hips dramatically. I moved further back till I felt something hard against my back. The windows. Shit!

Whitney walked right up to me, getting a little too close to me.

"W-Whitney I'm very busy" I said, I put my hands on her shoulders moving her back to put some room between us.

"Oh come on Tony" said trying to do a sexy pout, while caressing my arm.

I quickly took my hands off her.

"I'm pretty sure you can squeeze me into your schedule" She said flirty, wrapping her arms around my neck

"No I can't" I unwrapped them "I have work to catch up, and I have Pepper and the boys to take care of"

"Wait a minute. Did you say Pepper?" She said putting a hand on her hip

"Yes. Why?" I asked confused

Her eyes went cold and hard. "Nothing" she smiled curtly. She rewrapped her arms around my neck "Ya know I could make all your troubles go away if you let me" She whispered seductively in my ear. She slid one hand down my neck all the way down. I quickly grabbed her hand removing it.

"No." I said seriously "Whitney you can't do this we aren't even together. And if I remember correctly you dumped me"

I moved away from her "Now if you please leave my office I have a lot of work to do"

By the expression of her face, she was clearly pissed off. She stormed out of my office, slamming the door in the process. Running a hand through my hair I knew this was far from over.

**Later that Day**

Walking into the house made me want to go back to work. Michael was screaming at the top of his lungs. The twins were having a food fight. And Pepper was nowhere to be found.

God must really hate me.

There was food all over the place. It just had to be spaghetti night. Some of the food was falling from the ceiling and sliding from the walls.

I could feel the anger swelling in my chest. The feeling I had on the way home being relieved to finally to be coming home was gone. Once the twins saw me their eyes went wide.

"Uh oh" Both boys instantly dropped whatever food they had. Everything would have seemed quiet if it wasn't for Michael screaming in the background still. I was already getting a headache.

I walked over to them. "What do you think you were doing?"

"Nothing" They both lied

I stared at them, looking at both them in the eyes. "Then what's this mess!" I practically yelled, referring to the mess in the kitchen.

Tears started welling in their eyes. Guilt flooded my stomach. "We're sorry daddy" cried the twins, running to me.

I didn't mean to make them cry. I bent done ashamed of myself. I scooped them into my arms "I'm sorry"

"W-W-We're sorry daddy" they cried

"It's okay and I'm sorry for raising my voice" It seemed like I was getting better and better at this parenting stuff every day.

"I-It's okay daddy" spoke Charlie

"Well you both have to promise me that you won't do this again" I said looking at each of them in the eyes.

They both nodded their head "Good. Now clean up this while I go see what Michael is crying about"

I let them go, making my way to the one giving me a headache. Michael was still in this highchair screaming.

I picked him up. That's when I smelled it. No wonder he was screaming so loud! I would have screamed and cried too if I was sitting in that!

"Where's your mom at?" I asked David

"She's in the bathroom I think"

"Okay" I said, I took Michael to the living room. Having a baby live with you for a whole month is no walk in the park. They wake you up at 3 in the morning, their fussy and wining, they eat all the time! And I mean all the time! They stink which means YOU have to change them, oh how I can't wait till potty training!

I quickly changed Michael's diaper before heading off to find Pepper.

I walked into Pepper's room hearing gagging noise. As I got closer to the bathroom the sound increased and I could hear something falling and splashing into the toilet.

I knocked on the door hesitantly "Pepper?"

I got no answer other than more gagging.

I slowly opened the door, poking my head in. Pepper was leaned over the toilet bowl, puking.

I quickly ran to her, holding her hair back for her while rubbing her back soothingly.

When she was done, she washed out her mouth before leaning, exhaust against the wall.

"I'm sorry you had to see that" she whispered, she slid down the wall.

I sat next to her letting her lean her head on my shoulder "it's okay; it was bound to happen sometime"

"Yeah, I guess"

I wrapped my arm around her, pulling her more to me. We were both silent.

"You know we can't keep ignoring the problem." I said breaking the silence "No matter how much you don't like it or don't want to be but the truth is you really are pregnant." I finally said it

"Yeah I know..."

"Pepper, I want you to know that I will never leave you no matter what" I looked at her which she refused to look at me. "Pepper I know you don't want to be pregnant with his kid but just because the baby maybe his doesn't mean it will be like him"

"I-I Know" tears started forming in her eyes "Tony" she finally looked at me "I know that just because the baby is his doesn't mean the baby will be like him I know that! But that doesn't help that I might hate the baby for being his! And I'm the mother! The mother! I'm supposed to love it no matter what! No matter whom the father is! But when I look at M-Michael sometimes and see him, I-I just hate Michael and Michael doesn't know much since he's just a baby. But I still get this feeling of hate when I sometimes I look at him. Then I feel horrible because that's my baby! My baby! The one I'm supposed to love with all my heart and yet here I sometimes hate him! I'm such a horrible mom! I'm such horrible person!"

Her shoulders shook with every sob. I pulled her closer, holding her tighter to me. I was speechless I had nothing to say to her speech. I rubbed her back trying to calm her down. What was a person supposed to say that? How I was supposed to make her feel better when I had nothing to say?

She finally stopped crying when I realized that she had fallen asleep. I put her bed, tucking her in than closing the door behind me as I left. Tomorrow, I decided I was going to call Rhodey.

I headed downstairs thinking about Pepper. What was I going to do? How can I help?

I walked back into the kitchen to see how the boys were doing. The mess seemed to have multiplied. I wanted to slam my head into the wall. Right than I was hoping for an Iron Man call so I could escape this nightmare.

**Chapter 7 is done! Finally! Now to start chapter 8! I hope you guys liked this chapter for this month! Thank you so much for reading my story! Hope you enjoyed! Recently I've been very addicted to twitter surprising I need to get off that and write! Please review!**

**Katie-Color**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Tony**

The months have flown by fast. Pepper was already in her 6th month and things couldn't get any better. Her mood swings are off the charts, she's super emotional and her food cravings are bizarre. I mean seriously. Who in their right mind would want spaghetti with key lime pie mixed together! I about vomited when I saw her eat that.

Things at home weren't good, than again things at work weren't any better. I would always come in late, leave early and miss meeting with my clients. Trish wasn't the least happy with me. My desk was pilling up with paper work that needed to be read and signed. Sometimes I would bring work home with me but with a baby around you can't get anything done…not to mention a pregnant Pepper. Oh yes, life was going great!

"Tony we're outta milk again!" called Pepper from upstairs in the kitchen.

I slammed my head on my work bench, the third time this week. "Darla" I called

"Yes, Tony?" answered Darla, my house's super computer

"Please add milk to the grocery list-"

"And bread!" called Pepper again

"And bread" I finished

"Adding milk and bread to grocery list" There was pause "Milk and bread successfully added to grocery list."

"Thank you"

"You're most welcome, Tony. Is there anything else I can be assistance of?"

"No"

"Very Well,"

Her voice cut out. I went back to work on the new tech for the iron man armor. Suddenly there were heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. I didn't bother looking up I knew who it was. The door to my lab opened. There was only one other person besides Rhodey who knew the password to my lab.

"Whatcha working on?" asked Pepper coming up behind me

"On a new soni-"I didn't get to finish my sentence

"Oooo! Is this for my armor? I hope it is! I really hope it is! I mean you told me you would make me my own armor! Even though that was years ago…but it still counts! And I want all the latest gadgets you can think of! But the colors have got to change! Red and yellow? Lameee. I was more of thinking of a pinkish shade. What do you think?" she asked me.

I clenched the screw driver in my hand tightly. I forgot how much Pepper could talk… Wait a minute. "Red and yellow are the Iron man colors! What's wrong with them?" I asked upset

"Oh yeahhh, that explains a lot" she said, smirking while walking back the way she came

"What's that supposed to mean?" I turned to her

"Oh nothing" she giggled, heading to the couch which she struggled to sit down on due to her bulging stomach. She turned to me "So what are you working on?"

"I'm upgrading the Mark ll" I answered again but made it short this time knowing that she didn't understand my nerd talk. I went back to work. "I need to keep up with Justin. He is so determined to take down iron man"

"Well at least there isn't that rivalry for the weapons manufacturing business" commented Pepper

"True, which can stay that way."

Once I had become CEO of Stark International on my 18th birthday I immediately quit the weapon dealer industry. There were many complaints especially from Obadiah and the news was on my ass 24/7. I was all over the news; my face was on every magazine and newspaper. It wasn't till a year that the media finally forgot about my fiasco. But they were still on my ass, more like Iron man's ass.

"Oh!" cried Pepper

I immediately dropped the wrench, rushing to her. She was holding her emerging stomach. There was a look of surprise on her face.

"Pepper, what's wrong?" I asked, worried. Dread filled me. Fear that something was wrong with the baby scared me. Was she going into early labor? But this would be really early labor, she had 3 months left. Or was there something wrong with Pepper? Terror consumed my whole body.

"I'm fine, Tony" spoke Pepper, a huge smile broke across her face "The baby just kicked!

She quickly grabbed my hand, resting it on the top part of her stomach. A thud hit against my hand instantly. Then another hit than another. I smiled fondly. Fear left my heart instead warmth filled it. The baby wasn't even born yet and I already loved him or her. Even though he/she wasn't my child, I would still love it like my own. I felt another thump against my hand stronger than the last. I felt my heart flutter, it was incredible. Then it hit me. A baby. A baby. A baby will be here in a matter of months. We weren't even prepared. We didn't have another crib! We're going to need more diapers! And bottles! Toys! Clothes! We didn't have any of those! Only the ones that Michael wore but he was far from a new born baby. Fear again filled me. What if I did something wrong? Like drop it. And isn't there something on the baby's head you have be careful of? Man I'm starting to act like Pepper!

Pepper stared at me confused. "Something wrong, Tony?" she asked worried

I snapped out of my ranting thoughts. "Huh?"

"Is something wrong?" She asked again, her eyes were full with concern

"Uh no"

She looked at me, plainly "I know you better than that. Now tell me what's wrong, Tony?"

"It's just" I started "I've never had been around a baby before. I don't know the first thing about babies! I'm still trying to get used to the dad role. I don't know how to hold a new born. I've always heard that you have to be very careful cause of their neck or something. But what if I hold it wrong or pick it up wrong!"

Pepper laid her hand on top of mine, tenderly. She gave it a squeeze. I looked up into her eyes. Her hazel eyes shone. "Tony calm down."

I nodded my head.

"You'll be fine. I have already had 3 kids before, I'll help you." She smiled "Just calm down. The only thing you need to worry about is Iron man."

Suddenly alerts went off. Speak of the devil. I hurried to the computer. "Darla report," I called.

A video popped up onto the screen, it showed whiplash walking around town destroying everything in his way. "Whiplash," responded Darla. "On Houston Street," A map appeared on the screen with a red dot representing whiplash.

"Dammit Mark ll is still not upgraded yet! I haven't installed the new software yet!" I thought for a moment "Oh well" I hurried to the mark ll unhooking it from the wires I had plugged into the suit.

"Tony, don't you remember the last time you used armor that you didn't finish upgrading!" called Pepper from the coach.

"I know pepper but mark ll is the best one for this job" I suited up. I was about to take off when Pepper called me, I look at her.

"Can you help me up before you go?" she smiled sheepishly.

I laughed to myself; I forgot that Pepper has been having problems getting up lately. I lift her to her feet before taking off.

**Pepper**

I rushed up the steps as fast as I can but let me tell you its difficult! The twins were in the kitchen climbing on the counters. "What do you think you two are doing?" I yelled.

I hurried to them getting them both down. I scold them about climbing on the counters while they said their sorry. I turned on the TV and immediately turning to the news station. Iron man was all over it.

"Iron man!" yelled Charlie "Come on Iron man!" he yelled as Tony got thrown against a building.

My nerves were going crazy. With every hit Tony took my stomach did a flip flop. I was scared. This fight wasn't going good. Tony was getting his ass kicked.

I left the room going into the living room where I could still see the TV. I called Rhodey instantly.

"Hel-"

"Rhodey!" I cut him off "What's going! Are you at the armory? Why is tony getting his butt kick? Is he hurt? Is he okay? Why aren't you out there? Does Vanessa know you're the War Machine and that Tony is iron man? Are you talk-"

"Pepper!" yelled Rhodey cutting me off "Yes she does. Yes I am at the armory. And don't worry Tony got this under control"

"Under control? Under control!" I screeched as Tony was slammed into the ground "Does this look like he has it under control!"

"Okay maybe not at that moment…but he does just wait Pepper" reassured Rhodey

I continued to watch the TV, hoping, wishing that Tony was okay.

Within minutes, it looked like Tony was finally getting the advantage. He dodged all the attacks Whiplash threw at him and even landed a few of his own attacks on Whiplash.

I could hear Charlie yelling at the TV for Iron Man to get him. I smiled to myself if only he knew. The battle ended 10 minutes later. S.H.I.E.L.D took Whiplash into custody. I felt so relieved that Tony was alive and wasn't hurt.

Tony stepped through the downstairs door, tired. I ran, as best as I could to him. I gave him a big hug "I'm so glad you're okay!" I could feel tears gather at the corner of my eyes.

He hugged me back "Of course" He smiled.

Suddenly the doorbell ringed. I looked at Tony curiously, only to receive one back. I moved to go to answer it; I wonder who it could be.

**Tony**

I watched as Pepper wobbled to the foyer to answer the door. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a mob of dark brown hair move toward me. I looked down at Charlie, who was looking at me with excited eyes.

"Did you see Iron Man, daddy! Did ya see him daddy! Did ya!" He grabbed ahold of my pants, tugging with every word. His voice was high with excitement.

"I-"I didn't even get to answer for he cut me off

"It was so cool, daddy!" he yelled "He was like gettin beat but then he came back beatin the guy like it nothin! I wanna be just like him! I wanna be strong! I wanna be Iron Man!" His eyes shined with admiration.

I smirked ruffling his hair "Maybe one day" For only I knew what the future may hold. I knew one day I would have to pass on the Iron Man legacy to someone new once I grew too old to do it anymore.

I then realized that Pepper had been gone a little longer than expected. I made my way to the foyer. I stopped in my tracks. Pepper stood at the door, a pissed off expression on her face in front of her stood a woman who also held the same expression.

The other woman saw me, her face lite up. "Tony!" she yelled. She ran over to me, giving me a hug. Once she pulled away, she looked up at me "You need teach your maids manners! This one wouldn't even take my coat! I mean even though she's fat doesn't give her an excuse to be lazy!" She flipped her blonde hair behind her shoulder, smugly.

Pepper's face turned to outrage. I quickly spoke up "Chelsea, Pepper isn't fat. She's pregnant" I stated.

"Oh"

"And she isn't a maid" I added

Pepper's face was still outraged. Chelsea wrapped her arms around my neck "Aww Tony, you don't got to hide anything from me" She flirted "I already know you despise human labors but you can tell me anything it isn't like Maria over there is going to tell anyone anyway."

"Do I look Mexican!" yelled Pepper

"Don't you have some toilet to clean or something" Chelsea said harshly. Stream flared from Pepper's nostrils.

"Pepper, pepper calm down, remember what the doctor said." I tried to calm her down, it seemed to somewhat work. She took a deep breath but her eyes looked to murder Chelsea.

"Daddy!" Two mobs of dark hair ran into the foyer. They instantly stopped. I realized that Chelsea still had her arms around me. I quickly removed them. Charlie eyed Chelsea wary. "Who she daddy?" asked David, curiously.

"Just someone I work with" I stated plainly which was the truth.

"Oh Tony we are more than that, you should know that" She flirted "You don't have to hide it." She caressed my cheek; I swiftly brought her hand down. She looked hurt but she quickly hid it. She moved to Charlie and David.

"The rumors are true, you really do have sons. I thought the news and the media were all wrong." She said more to herself. She raised her hand to Charlie and David "Hi I'm Chelsea, your father girlfriend" She smiled "Maybe I'll even be your new mommy!"

I looked over to Pepper. Her face was turning red.

"I can't believe a person could be so heartless to leave her cute sons all alone" She suddenly hugged Charlie and David, who were clueless "Well you don't have to worry as your new mommy I won't leave you!"

I desperately wanted to slam my head into a wall. This was getting way out of hand. Once she released the boys, they bolted away from her. Charlie ran to me while David ran to Pepper. "Mommy, she's scaring me" David tried to whisper which was loud enough for everyone to hear

Chelsea looked offended. Pepper took the opportunity to speak "Hi" she said as calm as she could "I'm Pepper, these kids mother" She smiled coldly.

Chelsea looked a taken back, "Tony! What's the meaning of this!" she yelled, angrily. I rubbed my eyes, stressed. "What are you doing with _her_! When you're with me!"

"Chelsea" I started "There never was an US"

"But all those dates!" She yelled frustrated.

"That was a long time ago, Chelsea. We haven't gone out on a date in months. I'm sorry but those dates meant nothing to me" I said truthfully.

She huffed angrily. "I can't believe this! I'm leaving!" she screamed. Pepper already had the door open "Well here's the door" she stated.

Chelsea stormed out. Pepper slammed it shut behind her.

**A Month Later**

**Brad**

I came back from working out, exhausted. I turned on the TV. Whitney wasn't going to be home for another few hours might as well find something to do. The blank screen took form of a brunette haired woman.

"In other news, Mr. Anthony Stark was seen today at the Children's Museum of the Arts. With him were the reappearing twins and the baby but someone new was also seen with him."

A picture of a pregnant Pepper and Tony consumed the screen. She was holding Michael who was fast asleep, she was laughing at Tony who was being pulled by the twins to some exhibit.

My eyes went wide. Pepper was pregnant… But whose baby was it? Mine or Starks?

"This is the first ever appearance of this woman. Who is this woman? Is there a Mrs. Stark that we had never known about? Just a few months ago Mr. Stark had announced in a press conference that yes the Children were his."

A video appeared on the screen. It was of Stark standing in front of the press. He was in suit and tie. "Yes the children are mine." He answered to press, who went wild throwing questions at him left and right.

The brunette appeared on the screen again. "So is this woman the mother of these children? And is this woman bearing another one of Mr. Stark's children? I'm Janette Anderson reporting for Channel 5 news. Thank you and have a great day." The Channels 5's logo came onto the screen along with their theme song. I turned the TV off.

I missed a lot. Michael had gotten bigger since the last that I saw him. The twins looked more like Stark. And pepper looked so carefree and happy. I smirked that was about to change. I let them get a little too carefree in my absence. I think it is time for me to strike. I smiled to myself oh yes I was going to take back what once was mine, Stark. Just you wait and see.

**Tony**

I was on my 180 bench press. I needed to relieve some of this anger I had bent up inside me. I just couldn't believe her! The nerve of her! The anger filled me with more energy to continue.

**Flashback **

I hastily tried to keep up with my paper work which was piling up on my desk. There was so much to do with not enough time to do it.

Suddenly my office door opened, I looked up surprised. Whitney strode in. Trish followed after her "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark. I tried to stop her but she wouldn't listen" she apologized

"It's okay Trish" I reassured her, she looked back at me unsure. I waved her off with a hand, assuring that everything was okay. I turned my attention to Whitney once my door was closed.

"Something-"She cut me off "Tony, I want another chance!"

"Huh?" I was confused "Another chance?" I looked at her curiously. Her blue eyes held no uncertainty.

"Yes, another chance" she walked over to my desk sliding her hand over mine "with you" she smiled; she gave my hand a squeeze.

I withdrew my hand. "Whitney" I started

"Tony, come on give me a second chance. Let me show you how much I love you! How much I've always loved you! I was so wrong to dump you! Please forgive! Give me another chance"

I ran a hand though my hair. She continued on. "Tony I know you still care. I see the way you look at me"

The way I look at her? I've only seen her, what? Twice!

"Tony I know you miss being with me, holding me, kissing me" she said "So Tony please give me a second chance"

"No" I said standing from my desk walking to the windows "We broke up because you wanted someone new and you cheated"

"And you didn't! I'm not stupid. I estimated how old that child was which meant that that child would have had been conceived when we were still dating!" yelled angry.

"That's different!" I yelled back "I was drunk"

"And I wasn't?"

"Whitney you were cheating long before i did! And you still continued even after we both confessed of doing it at the party and promised not to do it again. I kept to my part but you never kept yours." I said harshly.

"Tony I promise you I never wanted to do it" she pleaded "But Brad just kept pulling me"

"Brad?" Then it clicked "Brad! You were cheating on me with Brad this whole time!" I yelled, rage coursed through my veins

"Yes" she squeaked "I thought you knew"

"Whitney, Brad was a married man, married to Pepper! So at the party when you left me suddenly you went to be with Brad, who came with his WIFE" I emphasized

She huffed

"Out of all the people you could have cheated with, you sure picked a winner" I said sarcastically

She stormed out of my office, angrily. I breathed out infuriated

**End Flashback**

Anger coursed through my veins once again. I kept benching till my arms couldn't hold the bar anymore. I lay on the bench, taking deep breathes, thinking. My life was going to hell. I put an arm over my eyes, blocking the light.

"Tony?"

I jolted up. Pepper's head was popped through the door. Her eyes were scanning the room, once they found me they lingered on me.

"Yeah?" I asked

She opened the door wider, walking in toward me; she was still looking around the room, curiously. She was only a few feet away from me when she finally realized that I wasn't wearing a shirt. Her face turned beat read as she stared at my chest. She messed with her hands in front of her.

I smirked. "You wanted something?" I asked, teasingly

"Oh! Yeah! Well I came to you that I've already put the boys to bed" She wasn't looking at me rather at the ground

I nodded my head

"And I wanted to ask why you were so angry when you came home?" she asked, she was looking at me. Her eyes were full of concern.

"Nothing" I said, standing up. I walked to get my water bottle out of the mini fridge. "Just some co-workers pissing me off" I stated before taking a huge gulp of the water

"Okay" She said, her face read that she didn't believe me. She turned around heading towards the door. "Don't stay up to late" she said before leaving.

I nodded my head, watching her leave.

**Next** **Morning**

**Pepper**

We had dropped off the boys at my dad's house who was excited to see his grandsons. I had a doctor's appointment for my 7th month checkup this early morning. Tony was tired in the morning, like I figured he would be. The car ride was quiet besides Tony's yawns. It wasn't long before we arrived at the hospital.

We signed in and waited for the doctor. Tony was already on his phone auguring with someone.

"No I never said that" he said, his voice strained.

I looked around; there were a few pregnant women. I was little bit nervous. I was getting stressed out lately with all of Tony's hookers coming to the house asking for him. I was getting stressed just thinking about them! I took deep breathes to calm myself down. I just hoped the baby was okay.

Tony slammed his phone shut beside me. I looked at him curiously. He shook his head not to ask.

"Mrs. Russell" called a voice

I stood up and made my way to the lady with a clipboard in hand. Tony was right behind me. Every time I went to the doctors for a check-up Tony always made sure to come with me.

"Mrs. Russell?" she asked. I nodded my head. The lady led us into a small room. She did the regular procedures. Then left saying that the doctor would be in shortly.

A few minutes later the doctor walked in. "Hello, Mrs. Russell." She greeted me. She looked at Tony "Helloo Mr. Stark" she winked. I could feel myself getting aggravated.

She finally turned to me "How are we doing today, Mrs. Russell? Any concerns?" she asked. I said no then we continued on with the regular routine. At least we did the ultra-sound. "The baby looks really healthy."

I was always so struck at the sight of the baby. Tony was always speechless. He would only sit and stare at the picture of the baby on the screen, amazed. Tony held my hand the whole time we were in the doctor's office.

"Would you like to know the gender?" the doctor asked. Before I always said no but she always asked to every check to make sure. "Yes" I said this time, giving Tony's hand a squeeze. I was nervous.

The doctor looked at the screen. "Congratulations it's a girl" she smiled at me and winked at Tony.

I was surprised. Tony shared the same expression.

"Everything looks good" she said, "Your free to go". She turned to Tony "And Mr. Stark if there is anything wrong please feel free to come here I would be more than happy to you check you out" she winked. Every time I came here, the nurses and doctors were always flirting with Tony! I was getting really annoyed.

"Or I could do it right now" she flirted. I had enough.

"Sorry doctor" I really wasn't "But Tony is taking me out on a date after this" I pulled Tony closer to me; I hugged his arm to my chest and batted my eyes up at him. He looked at me confused.

"Oh? Really?" said the doctor, she crossed her arms in front of her making her boobs pop out a little from her dress shirt.

"Yes" I said "Isn't that right honey?" I said between clenched teeth

Tony nodded slowly. I whipped my head to the doctor "See. We have the children at their grandpas place so we could have some alone time"

The doctor looked at me "So are you two dating then?" she asked, challenging me

"Yes" I shot out faster than I thought. Tony looked at me really confused. Then it clicked. What had I just done? I had just said I was dating Tony, the Tony Stark. Great…he problem thinks I'm weird now…wait Pepper he always thought you were weird even back in high school so that's nothing new… I'm pretty sure I just ruined my relationship with him. What if he wants me move out? Then I would have to find a new home for me and the boys. I could live with Rhodey…but he's married I couldn't disturb him and his wife. I could go with my dad. I know he wouldn't mind.

"Ready to go?" Tony asked, I looked around the doctor was already gone. When had she left? "The doctor had dismissed herself while you were thinking." He stated

I nodded my head

"You, going to tell me what that was all about?" He questioned.

I looked at my hands embarrassed. I could feel my face growing hot.

"Pepper" he said, sternly. I felt like a child. "Pepper" he said again

"I just couldn't take it anymore!" I blurted out

"Take what?"

"Everything! Every time that I'm with you, all the women are all over you and don't even acknowledge that I'm there. Its gets me so mad! I mean they didn't carry twins for 9 months, I did! And believe me it was hard work! I just can't stand it when all these women are flirting with you"

Tony nodded, he moved closer to me "So your jealous?" he asked

"What?" I looked up at him "Whoa, whoa I'm not jealous" I crossed my arms "definitely not!"

He smirked "sure Pepper, sure"

"I'm not" I said "Who said I was jealous anyway, causeeeee that's definitely not the case"

Tony shook his head, smiling "Come on" He helped me get up from the chair I was sitting on "And I did"

"Well you're very much mistaken" I said walking to the door.

We continued our playful argument all the way to the car. Once in, I noticed had a serious look on his face, He was looking start at me. My face warmed up instantly, my palms grew sweaty.

"Earlier you said something about the boys when you were pregnant with them. Since I wasn't there when that happened, I don't really know much about them when they were younger" he said

I knew where this was going "Okay" I said softly. I began telling him about all the weird food cravings I had with them, how bad my mood swings were and how big I had gotten towards the 9th month. I told him about how hard they would kick and how I could never get up from sitting down. I told him everything I didn't want to leave anything out.

When we got to his place, I showed him their baby album. Everything Tony would see a picture of Brad and the twins, there was a pained look in his eyes. I knew he felt bad that he missed their birth. I spoke to him about every story the pictures held. Towards the end of the album, Tony's eyes held lots of pain and anger. I grabbed his hand. He looked me in the eyes.

"I know you missed a lot of the twin's younger years, but now you don't miss anything. They're here now, they know who their real father is and they accept you." I gave his hand a squeeze. I brought and it laid it top of my huge stomach. "And there is another chance coming. Yes, I know that this child isn't yours but…" I trailed off, I getting embarrassed. "But I hope you will treat this child as if it was your own" I finally said! I felt so relieved like a big boulder had just been lifted.

Tony looked at me. I started to fear the worst. What if he could never accept Michael or the baby? What if he wants nothing to do with them but will only keep them in his house because there my children?

"Pepper" he started "I have already accepted Michael and this baby" He rubbed my stomach. "As my own, I know biologically they aren't but I will treat them as if they were."

I hugged him, happiness flooding me. "Thank you Tony! Thank you!" I cried. Tony hugged me back, wrapping his arms around me tightly.'

"Of course, Pepper" He whispered in my ear

**One Month Later**

"Mommy when is the baby getting here?" asked David. We were in the kitchen.

I looked down at him; I slowly bent down "Soon. Just one more month" I smiled

I was already in my 8th month and I couldn't be happy to give birth soon. I was tired of the aches and pains that pregnancy caused.

"What are you and daddy doing?" David asked again

I slowly stood straight up with the help of counter. I stirred the paint once more "We're painting the baby's room."

"Oh. Is the baby's name going to be baby?" he asked

Now that I thought of it I hadn't even began brainstorming names yet and I had a month to go. "No" I told him "mommy just needs to get started on thinking of names" I ruffled his hair. I made a move to grab the paint can

"Pepper what are you doing?" I turned to see Tony walking in; his clothes had paint all over them.

"I was about to bring the paint can upstairs" I stated innocently

"Remember what the doctor said"

"Yeah, no heavy lifting" I mocked

"Good" he came over, kissed my cheek before grabbing the paint can. I smiled to myself. Tony and I had gotten closer over the past few months we never really showed it but we decided to give a relationship a try since the doctor was already spreading stuff about us.

David had already run off to watch cartoons with his other brothers. I followed Tony up the stairs to the baby's room. It was cross the hall from our room. We were painting it a light purple color. We had already bought the furniture and we had gotten lots of baby supplies from the baby shower.

We painted in silence for a few moments. "What do you think about Jennifer?" I asked

"Huh" he turned to me confused.

"For the baby, we don't have any names picked out yet" I stated "So do you think of Jennifer?

"No, reminds of me of a co-worker"

"Okay what about Michelle?"

"Co-worker"

"Becky"

"Sounds like an old person

"Rebecca?"

"I don't know"

I continued to list names which Tony denied most of them. We worked for hours. I looked out the window, the sun was starting to set, and Tony was downstairs getting something.

Suddenly I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I bent over in pain, and then I felt something wet rolling down my leg. I felt like my pants were soaked. The pain increased. I cried out. I leaned against the wall for support.

"T-Tony!" I choked out "Tony!" I yelled as the pain kept increasing "Tony!" I screamed

"Pepper" Tony came racing into the room, his face held concern.

"Tony" I cried

"Pepper what's wrong?" He ran to me. He sounded frantic and worried. I looked him in the eyes.

"I think my water broke"

**Finally! Sorry for the long wait I had a major road block! I hope you guys liked it. Please Review!**

**Katie-Color**


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